Don't Be Afraid
by Smiley612
Summary: A couple of days after Nina goes missing, Sibuna starts to recieve mysterious dreams. These dreams aren't like any other, though; Nina's in them. She's giving them clues to help them find her. Will Fabian and the others piece together the clues before time runs out? [Set after season 1. Longest story on the HoA archive!]
1. Only the Beginning

**Hey! This is my first story, and I'm so excited! This story actually took me a while to write, so I'm proud of it. I know the chapter's kind of short, so I'll do my best to make others longer. I hope you enjoy! (:**

**I don't own anything but the plotlines!  
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><p><strong>Fabian's POV<strong>

It all started in History Class.

Mr. Winkler was teaching a lesson on Egypt sometime in October. Nina's head was leaning on my shoulder in exasperation. We became an official couple last year, before Nina left for the summer. Over the break we would call, text, email, or Skype. When school started in September, we got to see each other in person for the first time in three months.

I remember how Amber reunited us that first week of September…

_Flashback_

"_Amber, where are you taking me?" Nina giggled as Amber pulled her toward the attic._

"_You'll see!" Amber giggled, all the same._

_At that point, even I giggled. Well, I guess it was more of a chuckle, but…_

_Anyway, I was glad that the 'BAF' and 'BBF' were reunited. I could see Amber pestering Nina to go shopping already…_

_Speaking of pestering, that's what Amber did to me to get me up in the attic in the first place. She told me that she found something related to the search from last year, and I told her Nina could go up there, considering she was the Chosen One. But Amber kept annoying me until I finally caved and said I'd go. Then she squealed and clapped her hands. Typical Amber._

_So here I am, trying to look for something up in the attic that could support Amber's theory. And was there? You guessed it: Nope._

_I was about to leave, when I heard Nina and Amber talking. The door opened, and there was Nina being pushed in by Amber._

"_Hi." I said._

"_Hi." Nina said, smiling slowly. I had grown a little bit taller than her over the summer; she had to look up slightly to meet my eyes._

_We talked for a bit, and I even kissed her once or twice. By the time Amber came back in, it was already ten P.M. Nina was asleep on my shoulder. Amber squealed silently at this and took a picture of us, then muttered something about it being her new profile photo. I laughed inside my head. Now our relationship is going global. I guess I should be annoyed, upset, or even mad, but I wasn't. I looked over at Nina and smiled. I think I love her._

_End of flashback _

I kissed Nina softly on the forehead. I caught her smiling from the corner of my eye.

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes. Everyone started to rush out.

Me and Nina were halfway out the door when Mr. Winkler called, "Nina."

She turned, and he was gesturing for her to come over.

"Yeah?" Nina asked, and started to walk toward him.

"Would you mind staying after school for a little while?"

She hesitated. ". . . Sure," she looked at me. "I'll meet you at the House, kay?"

I nodded, and she kissed my cheek. I felt myself blush as I walked out of the school.

Little did I know that today would be the last day I'd see Nina for a while.

**~*Scene Change*~**

Back at the House, things were normal. Alfie and Jerome were wrestling, Amber was sitting on the coach reading a magazine, and Patricia was sitting next to her, annoyance clear in her eyes. Mara was getting frustrated at Mick, trying to help him with homework. I set my bag down in my room and sat next to Amber and Patricia on the coach.

Amber glanced around the room. "Where's Nina?"

"She had to stay after school for something." I said.

"Oh. Have you checked the marking on the tree yet?"

"Not yet."

About a week ago, me, Nina, and the rest of Sibuna found a marking on the elm tree where we meet. It was shaped like the Eye of Horus. Nina put her locket to it, but nothing happened. I completely forgot that we were supposed to check it out today!

We started to talk about the marking, what it would lead to, where Rufus is, etc.

We were so busy talking that I hadn't noticed two hours had passed, and Nina still wasn't back?

I went over to the kitchen where Trudy was cooking supper. "Trudy?"

She turned away from her cooking (which smelled delicious). "Yes dear?"

"Nina's been gone for a while, and I'm getting worried. Could you call Mr. Winkler?

She nodded, and then wiped her hands on a dish towel. She went over to the hallway and picked up the phone.

I sat next to Amber and Patricia on the coach again, and after a minute, Trudy came into the common room.

"Jason said that Nina left a while ago. He's heading out to look now."

My eyes widened. 'She left a while ago'? I turned to Amber and Patricia, and they shared the same look with me: _Uh oh._

Trudy went back into the kitchen to start cooking supper again. We all sat there, frozen in shock, unable to speak.

After another five minutes, the phone rang again. Trudy walked back into the hallway and picked up the phone. There were a few moments of silence, and then Trudy walked back into the common room. She looked about ready to cry.

"What's wrong, Trudy?" asked Mara, who had gotten so annoyed with Mick that she stopped helping him, and was now sitting next to Amber on the coach.

"It's Nina," Trudy answered, ". . . she's missing."

My heart nearly stopped.


	2. Insanity

**This is officially the worst chapter ever.**

**Sorry for the wait; I had some problems and I didn't have time to get to a computer. The fandom was becoming a little ridiculous, so I stopped reading for a time.**

**Also, **_**really **_**sorry if any words are spelt wrong; my stupid computer doesn't have Spell Check.**

**Anyway, I'll try to update faster. I don't own House of Anubis; only the plotlines.**

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><p><strong>~Nina's POV~<strong>

It all happened so fast.

The last thing I remember before everything went black was me screaming for my life as strong arms grabbed me around the waist, dragging me into the trees. A cold hand covered my mouth and whispered in my ear, "_Shut up, or I'll kill you."_

But that only made me scream louder.

. . . And then it all faded away until I was left with nothing but darkness . . .

I woke up on a cold, hardwood floor in the corner of an empty room. I looked around, but it was too dark to see anything. My arm was throbbing, and when I leaned over to look at it, I noticed there were bruises covering every inch of my skin. Eventually my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I saw the room. There were no windows, no air vents: nothing. The room was completely empty except for a chair right smack in the middle of the room.

I saw a door in the left-hand corner of the room, and struggled to get up. I ran awkwardly towards the door, and shook the knob voilently, but it was locked. Suddenly a figure stood in the doorway. "Oh, Martin . . ."

The figure was smirking at me. I glared at him, trying to hide my fear, but I guess I wasn't doing a great job. The man snickered. He was about six foor, maybe even a little taller. I couldn't see his face, because the darkness hid it. He shoved me down onto the floor, and threw pieces of bread far into the room.

Then I got a closer look at the man's face, and gasped.

I knew him.

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><p><strong>~Fabian's POV~<strong>

My heart almost stopped.

Nina was missing. No, no, no, no . . .

I looked over at everyone else, and they all had different expressions. Amber's eyes were flaring, but they had a fragile look in them, as if she would burst into tears any second. Alfie's mouth was formed into a tiny 'o', and he was rubbing Amber's back. Jerome looked as white as a sheet. Mick and Mara looked confused, but I couldn't blame them. They weren't involved with the mystery, after all. Patricia looked ticked off.

Then there was me. By the way I felt, I guess you say my expression was everyone's combined.

We sat there in silence for a while. I think it was three minutes in when Trudy asked me to come upstairs.

I'm guessing Victor heard our conversation, because on the way up I saw his expression: a mix between shock, confusion, and even a little bit of concern.

Trudy lead me toward the toilets, and grabbed my shoulders. "Fabian, do you have any idea where Nina could be?" She asked.

"Honestly?" I began. Truthfully, I did have an idea as to where Nina could be, but I wasn't sure if I should tell Trudy. "No."

Trudy sighed. "Supper will be ready in a couple of minutes. I'm going to call Jason again, to possibly get more details. We'll talk more about this later.

She walked downstairs, and left me alone and confused.

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><p>I was quiet all throughout supper.<p>

In fact, we all were. None of us talked at all, unless you count that one time Jerome and Alfie were making cricket noises under their breath, and Patricia had gotten so frustrated that she slapped them both on the back of their heads, _hard_. We all let out a weak chuckle. But after that, all was silent again.

Soon enough, things got insane; Jerome started throwing food(as usual), Joey was comaplaining that his head hurt, Patricia was screaming at Jerome over the flying food, Amber looked like she might burst into tears any second, Mara was screeching everytime food hit her, and Mick was just sitting there, as if nothing was wrong.

I could barely hear anything throughout the insanity. But then suddenly, "AHHHHHHH!"

Everyone went dead quiet. Nobody dared to say one word; except Mara.

"_What_ was that?" She demanded.

"It sounded like - " Alfie began.

"-a scream." Patricia finsihed for him.

Silence.

"I bet it was Amber." Patricia said.

Amber sniffled. "It wasn't me!"

"Well, then who was it?"

Nobody spoke. We continued eating supper for another couple of minutes until Jerome spoke.

"This might sound insane, but . . . that scream . . . it sounded like . . ." He paused. He took a bite from his chicken.

"What did it sound like?" Patricia growled.

Jerome continued, hesistantly, gently. "It sounded like . . . like Nina."

"What?"

"No."

"No, it couldn't be."

"I don't think so."

We all tried to deny that it was Nina's scream, but unfortunately, we were all proven wrong.

"SIBUNA!"

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><p>"Ow! Let me go! OW!"<p>

"Shut up, Amber!"

"Well SOR-RY if it hurt when you gripped my wrist, when you KNOW-"

"Shut up!"

"Woooooah. What's up with you?"

"Amber, it doesn't help my mood when you keep telling everyone Nina is _dead_!"

Amber frowned and sat down on her bed. I sighed and sat down next to her.

"Fabian, what do you think happened to Nina?" Amber asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But we're going to figure it out."

"How?"

"Because we're Sibuna. Remember? Together, we're invincible."

Amber attempted a smile. "But we're not all together . . . how are we going to do this without Nina?"

I sighed. "It's going to be hard. But if we _ever _ want to see Nina again, then we have to work together. Are you in?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I'm in!"

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><p>"No." Patricia answered simply.<p>

"But he's evil! He could've -" Amber began.

"No. He would've called me . . . or sent me a text, by now." Patricia explained.

Her phone beeped.

Amber gasped. "Who is it? Is it Rufus?"

Patricia looked annoyed. "It's just Joy. She's been sending me texts all day. I mean, she's my best friend, and I love her to death, but she's really annoying me."

Amber frowned.

Today was day 2 of Nina's disappearence, and things were pretty much back to normal. Everyone was still slightly confused. Jerome and Alfie were back to their normal selves; goofing off and pulling pranks on the lower years.

We weren't silent anymore, though no one had brought up Nina's name all morning. The thought of her was too sad.

Amber and Patricia continued to argue, until Trudy came into the room.

"What are you all still doing here? You're going to be late for school! Go, go, go!" She rushed us out the door.

I walked to school alone. I had suspicions of where Nina was, and who took her.

And I planned to find out.

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><p>The day passed slowly. The six hours that we were in school felt like six days. By the time the final bell rang, I was ready to explode. I watched everyone quickly rush out of the school, but I slowly packed my things. I was going to figure out this mystery.<p>

I threw my bag over my shoulder and hesitantly walked over to Mr. Winkler's desk, where he was grading papers.

"Hey. . . Mr. Winkler?" I asked timidly.

He looked up from his paperwork. "Yes, Fabian? How can I help you?"

"It's about. . ." I paused. "It's about Nina."

Mr. Winkler looked down. Did he have something to do with this?

Then he looked up to me. "Look, Fabian. I know what you're thinking," he said.

I slowly nodded.

"But it's not true. I didn't have anything to do with Nina's disappearence, nor did the society. She merely disappeared on her own."

"But how?" I asked.

"I do not know. Maybe someone kidnapped her."

I sucked in a breath. "But. . . who would do that?" My voice was shaking.

Mr. Winkler didn't answer for a while.

"Mr. Winkler," I said, "tell me the truth. Did you take Nina because she's the . . ." I stopped myself.

He looked me in the eyes. "No. I swear, I had nothing to do with this. I kept her after school to talk about her grades. They were dropping, and I wanted to ask her if she wanted me to tutor her after school on some days. She told me 'no, thank you', and walked home. That's all."

"She never came home," I muttered.

"Then possibly," Mr. Winkler stated. "Someone took her on the way home from school."

I blinked. "Maybe she took a shortcut in the woods and got lost?" I asked hopefully.

Mr. Winkler looked down sadly. "I do not think so."

"Okay," I said sadly.

"Fabian," Mr. Winkler said, "if there is anything I can do to help, tell me, please. I want to know."

"Of course, Mr. Winkler."

"Now, go home. . . . and, make sure you watch out. I don't want you going missing too." His tone was dead serious.

I nodded in agreement, and took off toward home.

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><p>I caught up with the group half a mile from the school. Last night, we had agreed to walk home together so nothing could happen to us.<p>

I ran up next to Amber, who was on the end of the chain-linked group of friends. She quickly linked my arm into hers. "Where were you?" she asked me.

"I'm sorry. I had to take care of something," I answered.

"Okay," Amber responded. The others took quick notice of me. I explained that I had asked Jason about Nina's disappearence, and that Victor and his society had nothing to do with it. Patricia quickly disagreed. She explained her troubles with Jason last year, and the others agreed that I shouldn't have trusted him.

To be honest, I didn't know who to trust the past year.

Everyone started their own conversation. Amber started to talk to me about Nina, and when I mentioned that she was kidnapped, her eyes flared. We continued to talk for another four minutes until we reached the House.

When we stepped into the doorway, I heard a high-pitched scream. For a scary second, I thought that it was Nina. Then I turned and realized that it came from Amber.

Amber was hyterical crying, covering her mouth with one hand and pointing to the wall with the other. As I turned to face the wall, I saw what she was so scared by.

There, on the wall right in front of us, written in blood:

_YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER_

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><p><strong>Dun dun DUUUUUNNNNNNN. Cliffhanger! You better get used to those, because there will plenty more. So who took Natalie? Honestly, I don't even know. :3 You'll just have to wait and see. . . <strong>

**-Julianna**


	3. Not Too Late

**Okay, crap. I forgot to mention: this story takes place after Season 1, but before Season 2. **

**Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their awesome reviews. Every time I see a new one, my eyes light up. **

**Again, if any words are spelt wrong, blame my stupid computer that has no Spell Check.**

**I don't own House of Anubis.**

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><p><strong>~Nina's POV~<strong>

The sky was a perfect shade of blue, no cloud in sight. The birds were chirping, and the leaves were lightly rustling in the wind.

The world was mocking me.

My arms were crossed on the white windowsill in the main room. I had found a way out of the small, empty room the man was keeping me captive in. The main room wasn't any larger than my captive room. The furniture was worn out, the paint on the walls are tearing off, and there are cobwebs covering every inch of the perimeter of the room.

It hurt my arms when I crossed them, so I pulled back. The bruises on my arms and legs were still there; and they still hurt.

I wanted to be with my friends. I wanted to be back in Anubis, solving mysteries with Sibuna. I wanted to gossip about boys and clothes with Amber. I wanted to hear Alfie's rant about aliens. I wanted Mara to help me with my homework. I wanted to watch Mick score the final goal in the school futball tournament. I wanted to hear Patricia's sneer one last time. I didn't want to be cooped up in this small, abandoned house.

The front door opened, and I fliched. The man towered over me, his face covered by the shadows. He couldn't fool me. I knew who he was. He wasn't going to get his way.

"How did you get out, Martin?" The man snarled.

"I have ways," I shot back.

The man growled, and shoved me onto the floor. I laid there, helpless, while the glared at me from above. "Don't _ever_ come out again. Or there _will_ be consequences."

And with that, he kicked me in the stomach. I doubled over. This time, I couldn't stop the tears. They flowed down my cheeks, and the man snickered. He slammed the door shut on the way out.

I wanted to die. I couldn't stand the pain. It had only been two days since I had been taken, and I no longer wanted to be here.

I reached for my locket, which, to my horror, I realized wasn't there. I must've dropped it while the man was dragging me into the trees yesterday.

"Crap," I muttered.

I covered my face with my hands, and sobbed. I cried for what seemed like days, but it was probably only a couple of hours. I sniffled, and held my hands together. I closed my eyes, and started to repeat a chant. I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, but it somehow seemed right.

"Fabian," I muttered. He was the first person I thought of.

There was a bright light in the far-left corner of the room, and when the light dimmed, I could see a tall figure standing there, trying to regain his balance, as if he had just fell from the sky.

Fabian was here.

Fabian looked at me, and his eyes lit up, his expression full of concern.

"Nina," he whispered.

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><p><strong>~Fabian's POV~<strong>

There, on the wall right in front of us, written in blood:

_YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER_

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><p>Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno.<p>

We could've saved Nina. We could've saved Nina! _We could've saved Nina!_

Does that mean she's dead? No, it couldn't be. She couldn't be dead. There's no way.

Everyone was dead silent. None of us dared to say a word.

We stood there in complete silence for a while. Eventually, I moved us all to the Common Room. Amber was in hysterics, hiccuping every five seconds. Her eyes were blood red, and tears were streaming down her face. She was hugging Alfie's waist, and Alfie was whispering soothing words in her ear, staring at the message on the wall, occasionally whispering, "Oh my gosh. . ."

I snarled at the blood-written message on the wall, and clenched my fists. Somewhere, somehow, _someone_, had hurt Nina.

"I swear, whoever hurt Nina will _never _see the daylight again." I stated.

Amber sniffled, pulled back from Alfie's grasp, and wiped her eyes. "No, *hiccup* Fabian! You'll get hurt if you face the man *hiccup* alone!" A tear slid down the base of her nose.

I sighed. "This is all my fault." I bit my lip to stop the tears from flowing. I had to stay strong.

"No, Fabian," Amber began, "you could've have done *hiccup* anything to save her."

"That just makes it worse!" I exclaimed. A stray tear escaped and cascaded down my face. I sniffled. "I'm going to find Nina."

I grabbed my backpack from the arm of the couch, and walked down the hall and into my room. I grabbed a flashlight, two granola bars, and gauze, in case Nina was hurt.

I was going to find Nina.

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><p>I left Anubis and the worried cries of my friends after I had packed everything I needed. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going, but I sure as hell knew one thing; I was going to rescue Nina, no matter what.<p>

I figured the woods were my best shot. I wasn't sure if I should trust Jason, but I guess I would find out.

I missed Nina already. I missed her dirty-blonde hair, and her light-green eyes. I missed her optimistic attitude, how she would pick up our spirits when things took a turn for the worst. I missed her bossy nature. I missed how she would risk everything to save us. I missed _Nina._

I stood at the edge of the woods. Hopefully, Nina would be in there, somewhere in the Labyrinth of trees.

But I didn't know where to look.

Amber might be right. Rufus might've taken her in hopes of gaining immortality. It's a definite possibility. Though, something about it doesn't add up. If the Cup was destroyed, then there was no possible way of gaining full immortality. . .right?

Could there be another possible way? Maybe. . . maybe the Cup _wasn't _destroyed?

I guess there's only one way to find out.

I set off into the dark abyss of the forest.

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><p>I thought back to when Rufus captured Patricia, what seemed like a century ago. Patricia had mentioned that he took her to an abandoned warehouse in the clearing, so that's what I was aiming for. I remembered the trail I took when I rescued Amber and Nina from the same warehouse.<p>

_Nina. . ._

I clenched my fists as I walked. I was stiff as I approached the clearing, seeing a small building in the distance.

I was about to walk forward toward the warehouse when a voice behind me said, "Fabian!"

I jumped and turned around. There stood Amber, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She was alright now, though she still looked slightly shaken up.

"Amber," I breathed. "You scared the life out of me. Wait. . . what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let you go alone! You'd get *hiccup* killed!" She cried.

"No, Amber. Go back to Anubis. I couldn't take it if _you _got hurt too." I stated.

"Fabian," Amber pleaded. "Please! Nina's my *hiccup* best friend! I want to help!"

I thought for a moment. "Fine." Amber squealed and clapped her hands, and then hiccuped once more. "Let's go rade that warehouse."

And together we took off toward the abandoned building.

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><p>By the time we arrived at the warehouse's door, I swore I heard Amber hiccup like twenty times.<p>

We stood silently at the door. I thought that maybe Amber was planning an escape route for if Nina was in there, but than I saw a tear cascade down her face again. I placed a comforting hand on Amber's shoulder, and she calmed down a bit. I nodded at her, and she nodded back in agreement. I silently counted to three, and then unlocked the door.

"NINA?" I called. There was no answer. "NINA!"

The warehouse remained silent. The only sound was the door lightly creaking on its hinges in the breeze.

"Nina?" Amber said. "Where are you?"

Still no answer.

"Okay," I said. I pointed toward the left-end of the warehouse. "You look over there, Amber. I'll look on this end."

Amber nodded in agreement, and took off.

I slowly walked the perimeter of the right-end. There was no furniture, no boxes; there was nothing at all in this side of the room. I was about to confront Amber, but then I noticed a door in the corner of the room.

The door was huge, and was curved at the top. It was painted a shade of gray, with specks of blue near the top and the bottom. I reached for the door handle, but abruptly stopped myself.

"Amber," I called. "Come look at this."

She came rushing over. She was at my side in two seconds. "What's wrong?" She asked. She noticed the door, and moved her hand towards it. I stopped her quickly.

"Don't," I said. "There's something strange about this door."

"It's just a door," She said nonchalantly.

"I don't think so." I slowly reached for the door handle. I placed my hand on the cold bronze, and took a deep breath. I mentally counted to three, than opened the door.

A burst of wind came in through the door. It tousled my hair, and threw me off guard for a moment. As the wind slowed to a steady breeze, I peeked inside the room.

There was a bright, blinding ray of blue light. I shielded my eyes, and told Amber to do the same.

I heard the most blood-curling scream, and then a menacing laugh from the door inside the room.

"Fabian," Amber said. There was a quiver in her voice. "Can we go home now?"

I looked her straight in her bright blue eyes. "Yes," I answered. "Let's go."

She ran towards the front door, and I was about to catch up to her, but my curiousity got the best of me. I took a careful step inside the bright, blinding blue light. Just one step inside took all of the energy out of me. I was about to drag my other foot inside, but then I heard another scream; this one high-pitched, and worried.

"FABIAN!"

I quickly turned my head towards the sound. Amber was yelling my name from outside the warehouse. I yelled, "OKAY!" and ran towards the front door.

I never got a chance to look inside the door that day. I never would. Little did I know that if I had taken another step in, I wouldn't have put everyone in danger.

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><p>Amber grabbed me by my wrist and sprinted away from the clearing and towards the House. She finally stopped at the edge of the woods, and I got a chance to breathe.<p>

"Amber. . . what. . . just happened?" I asked, every breath hurting.

"I don't. . . I don't know." She answered. Tears were once again sliding down her cheeks, and she was breathing erratically.

"Hey, Amber. . . don't cry. There's no reason to cry," I said.

"We didn't find Nina," Amber said simply.

"That doesn't mean that she's not alive," I stated. "She could be anywhere. We'll just have to look harder."

Amber wiped her tears away with the pad of her thumb, and her eyes flared. "Fabian. . . do you think. . . do you think that Rufus has her?"

"Honestly, no," I answered. "If Rufus had her, than she would've been in that warehouse. It was where he kept you, Patricia, and Nina last year. I don't think there's any other hiding places around here."

Amber nodded. She looked physically and mentally relieved. "Okay," She said.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go home."

Amber took one step forward, and than screeched. I looked at her, and she was holding up a chain with an attachment at the end. The attachment was glowing a vibrant red. With horror, I recognized the necklace.

It was Nina's locket.

"Oh, crap." I muttered.

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><p>The clock on my phone read 2:09 A.M. I'm exhausted, hungry, and cranky, but that wasn't enough to make me fall asleep.<p>

I had Nina's locket in my hands.

I didn't need my phone to see it; it hadn't stopped glowing since Amber and I had found it ten hours ago. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I hoped it meant good.

We hadn't told Sibuna yet; we decided that we'd wait until tomorrow, hoping that Nina might come back. Hoping that she had left the locket there as a sign that she was safe. We could only hope.

After Amber and I had come in the House, I saw that the message on the wall was erased. I had no idea how they all did it, or what they told Trudy, but I guess I would find out tomorrow.

I regarded Nina's locket one last time, and decided that I needed some sleep. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

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><p>I immediately found myself in a small, isolated room, with cobwebs covering every inch of the walls. There was worn-out furniture in this room, and the paint on the walls was tearing off. There was cracked glass shattered all over the room.<p>

I didn't know where I was. It could've been some kind of torture room, for all I knew.

I tried to regain my balance. I felt as if I'd just been dropped here from the top of the roof.

I scanned the room for a way out. But instead of finding the exit, I found something much more important.

Nina.

She was lying on the floor, doubled over in pain. She was clutching her stomach, and slightly wheezing, attempting to breathe. She had bruises covering her arms and legs, and I caught a glimpse of her stomach when she accidentally lifted it up with her arm; a huge bruise was forming.

I clutched my fists. Someone had done this to my Nina. I wanted to kill them.

Nina stopped wheezing for a moment, and opened her eyes the slightest bit. She caught a glimpse of me from across the room, and I saw her eyes. They were full of fear, pain, and anger. It only made me want to kill them more.

I wanted to run to her, hold her close to me, and say that everything was going to be alright. But I couldn't move. I was rooted to my spot.

Her eyes were pleading, as if thought I could help her. She whispered, "Help. . ." She was so inaudible, I was surprised I could even hear her.

She cried out again, and clutched her stomach. She brought her knees to her face, and continued to cry.

I wanted to help her somehow. But I couldn't move. I tried calling out to her, but my voice didn't work. I felt myself fading, as if I was leaving the separate dimension that Nina was stuck in.

I didn't want to leave her. She looked so helpless, so scared. . .

I mustered up enough energy to say one word before fading into the blackness.

"Nina. . . "

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><p><strong>I'm sorry if this sucks. It's midnight now, and I really need some sleep. Anyway, reviews are always welcome! The next chapter should be up probably sometime late this week, or early next week. My friend is coming up from Florida, so I wanna spend some time with her. Maybe, if you're lucky(and I'm lucky) It'll be up tomorrow. :) <strong>

**-Julianna**


	4. When a Stranger Answers

**A/N - Okay, I am officially pissed. **_**The Song of Dreams**_** came out, and it was **_**almost**_** exactly like my idea. I published this story in October of 2011, if you check the publication date, but I've had the idea since April of that year. I promise, this story is COMPLETELY mine.**

**But sadly, I don't own House of Anubis.  
><strong>

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><p><em>Previously on <em>_Don't Be Afraid__ . . ._

I mustered up enough energy to say one word before fading into the blackness.

"Nina . . ."

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><p>I bolted upright in bed, breathing erratically. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I tried to regain my breathing rate.<p>

What. The. Hell. Was. That?

Was that a dream? Possibly. In a way, I wanted it to be a dream. Only a dream. Nothing more than a dream. That way, Nina couldn't be hurt.

But I couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. I mean, I've had weird dreams like that before, but this was different. Just being in that place sucked all of the energy out of me.

I didn't even know what or where that place was. But I didn't care. I hated it already.

Seeing Nina like that struck a cord in me. I knew that someone had hurt her. She couldn't have done that to herself. I mean, the worst I've seen Nina do to herself is trip over her own feet and scrape her knee on the way to school one morning.

The person that did that to her would pay.

My head was pounding, so I laid back down onto the pillows and placed my hand on my forehead.

I clutched my fists when I started to think about who would do that to her, when I realized I was holding something. I opened my palm to reveal a glowing necklace.

Nina's locket.

I had completely forgotten about it. I guess that it wasn't that big of a deal now.

But, maybe it was. Maybe I was wrong and the locket was a bigger clue than the dream. If the dream even meant anything. Maybe I was just feeling guilty about Nina's disappearance and Karma decided to kick me in the ass for leaving her like that. Alone and hopeless.

I groaned and flopped onto my stomach.

* * *

><p>"Mate, are you okay? You look kinda . . . stressed."<p>

I looked up from my breakfast and smiled at Mick. "Yeah, I'm fine. W - Why wouldn't anything be fine?"

Mick's eyes narrowed and he sat next to me. "Are you sure . . .?"

I shrugged. "Just a dream," I said.

"Really? Tell me about it."

I pursed my lips. "Oh . . . it was nothing. I was just . . . trapped somewhere. And . . . I couldn't get out. That was it." I said, choosing my words carefully. It wasn't a _complete _lie.

Mick ripped off part of his french toast and chewed. "Whatever," he said, his mouth still full of food.

Patricia narrowed her eyes at me, from where she was standing in the kitchen to the left of Amber. "Fabian," she said, "why is your shirt glowing?"

I looked down at my shirt and then quickly craned my neck. Amber and I locked eyes. Amber's lip quivered and she quietly slinked away.

I racked my brain for an answer, but nothing came. I slowly retreated from the kitchen and walked upstairs to search for Amber.

As I climbed the stairs, I could faintly hear Patricia's voice from the kitchen: "Oh . . . kay?"

I found Amber sitting by the windowsill, her head in her arms, sobbing.

I slowly approached her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She jumped and craned her neck to look at me. She rolled her red and puffy eyes, and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

I sighed. "Amber, _seriously_, stop crying. I think you're gonna run out sometime soon," I stated.

"_Fabian_!" She growled. "Don't you _get_ it? Our friend could be _dead_! And here _you_ are, her _boyfriend_, doing _nothing_!" She yelled.

I blinked. Was she being serious?

Amber exhaled loudly, and rubbed her eyes free of any upcoming tears. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just - - this whole thing - - if what you said was true, and Nina _did_ get kidnapped . . . I mean, she's my best friend - - I wouldn't want - - I couldn't - - I wouldn't - - I'm not . . . I don't know."

I grimaced. She was obviously struggling for words. I rubbed her back in a comforting way. "Hey, don't cry," I whispered. "This _is_ Nina we're talking about. She's tough. I'm sure, _wherever_ she is, she's fine."

Amber nodded, and sniffled. I grinned and rubbed her back in a circle.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Amber called. Her voice cracked on _in_.

Alfie came strolling into the room. "Hey, Ambs, you okay?" He asked.

She stood up. "Alfie!" She ran over and tackled him in a hug.

Alfie laughed and squeezed her tight. "Woah, Amber, are you okay?"

Amber giggled and held Alfie's hand. "I am now," she answered, and than kissed Alfie full on the lips.

When Amber pulled back, Alfie looked as if he was in Heaven. Amber giggled, grabbed Alfie's hand, and led him towards me.

Alfie sat next to Amber near the windowsill, his arm around her shoulders.

"Okay, I have something to tell you guys."

I slowly unclenched my fist to reveal Nina's locket.

"I had a dream last night."

* * *

><p>Amber's eyes flared so much during our conversation that I thought they were going to burst out in flames.<p>

Amber bit her lip. "So she _was_ kidnapped."

I winced. "Probably, but we don't know that for sure."

"Oh, come _on_, Fabian," Alfie began. "The only scar we've seen on Nina's body in the year we've known her is on her thumb, when she accidentally cut herself with a knife when trying to help Trudy cook supper."

I sighed. "I know. I just . . . I can't stand the thought of someone hurting her like that. I can't stand the thought of _any of you_ getting hurt." I admitted.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Amber said.

We were silent for two seconds. "Hey," Alfie piped up. "So, are we going to tell Patricia, or . . .?"

"Do you think we should?" I questioned.

"Uh, _duh_." Amber commented.

"Okay, then. Amber, go get her."

She rushed out the door. Alfie watched her scamper away. Then he turned to me.

"Where did you get her locket from?" he asked.

"Oh, right. You weren't with us yesterday. Well, after I left to go look for Nina, Amber came running after me. She wanted to help, and I reluctantly let her. Me and her searched Rufus's warehouse for her, but she wasn't there. We left to go back to the House, but as soon as Amber stepped out of the clearing, she screeched. And then suddenly she had Nina's locket in her hand."

"She had it all along?" Alfie asked.

"No, she stepped on it and felt it under her foot."

"Oh. And you kept it?"

"Yeah, during the night. I put it under my shirt this morning."

"Don't you think that you should return it to Nina?"

"Yeah, Alfie," I remarked sarcastically. "Why don't you go downstairs and get her so I can give it back to her."

Alfie's shoulders drooped. "I can't believe someone would do that to her. I mean, it's not like she _wanted _to be the Chosen One."

My eyes narrowed. "Hey, Alfie? . . . Maybe she _wasn't _taken because she was the Chosen One."

"Why else?" Alfie quizzed.

"I don't know . . . yet. But we're Sibuna. We'll figure it out, right?"

Alfie smirked and raised his hand above his right eye, and I mimicked him.

Amber came in with Patricia just then. Patricia exhaled and sat next to me while Amber sat back down next to Alfie and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Okay, would someone _please_ explain why Amber just dragged me up here against my will?" Patricia asked.

"Sibuna," I stated simply.

Patricia's eyes widened. "What's wrong? . . . Does it have something to do with Nina?"

I sucked in a breath and nodded. "And . . . there's something else, too."

"What?"

I showed Patricia the locket. "Ohhhhh. Well, _that_ explains why your shirt was glowing."

"Exactly. There's . . . something else, too . . ."

"Yeah . . ." Patricia pressed.

I explained my dream to Patricia, and she looked like she was going to cry, which shocked me. "Someone did that to her?" she whispered.

"Why is everyone so obsessed with _that_?" I exclaimed. "I mean, yeah, it's a big deal, and I wanna _kill_ whoever did it, but what about the fact that she's _missing_? I mean, for all we know, she could be _trapped_ in that place!"

"Okay, Fabian. Would you please explain to us _what _that place was?" Patricia asked, her eyebrows risen.

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure - - I mean, I didn't think that that was a big deal at the time. Nina was curled up on the floor, sobbing hysterically, crying out in pain. I kinda wanted to _help_ her, instead of inspect the room."

"You didn't help her at all!" Amber exclaimed.

"You don't think I would've if I could've?" I said coldly. "I was literally rooted to my spot! I couldn't move anywhere! I couldn't even get my voice to work!" I explained.

"Okay, guys, don't a start a fight." Patricia interrupted. "Look, everyone . . . has _anyone_ ever thought about _calling_ her?"

"I never thought about that," Amber muttered.

"Exactly." None of us moved. "Well, someone call her!" she exclaimed.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts list. Ade . . . Alfie . . . Amber . . .Jerome . . . Mara . . . Mick . . . Nina. I pressed my thumb on the green button.

And waited.

* * *

><p><strong>~Nina's POV~<strong>

They thought I was fine.

I was _not_ fine. How could they think I was fine?

I had heard them say it. They thought I was well. They thought I wasn't hurt. They were wrong.

I winced and hugged my chest. Just thinking about that made me sick. Once, I had even thrown up. Then later, when the man came back, he saw me sitting against the wall, breathing deeply. He noticed the pile of gunk in the far-left corner of the room and kicked me on my side. I groaned in pain.

But groaning wouldn't make him stop. Earlier this morning, the man had left early. I sneaked out of my room, into the main room, and started to open the door that led into the outside. I needed to get out, breathe in the fresh air. The air in here was dense, cloudy, and smelly. Being outside would a gift.

I had started to jiggle the knob when the door suddenly opened. I jumped back and screamed at the top of my lungs. The figure standing in the doorway was shocked for a moment, and then rolled his eyes. He kicked me, and I lost my balance. I fell to the floor with a thud.

The sad part was that I expected this. I was already used to this. And I had only been here for three days.

This morning, I prayed to see the others. I pleaded, cried, begged . . . but nothing happened. This time, there was no bright light. There was no one standing in the corner, struggling to regain their balance.

First, I tried to summon Fabian. He didn't come. Then I tried Amber. Then Patricia. Then Alfie. Then Jerome. Then Mara. Then Mick.

No one came.

Were they avoiding me? Did they think that I was some sort of freak? Did they not want to be around me?

I wanted to be around them. Why didn't they want to be around me?

I knew it was ridiculous. I was a freak. I was a wimp. I was dead.

Was I dead? I must be. That's why I can never get out of this house. I'm trapped here for eternity because of what I did.

Well . . . what did I do?

Maybe it was because I summoned Fabian. I still had no idea how I did that. I had heard them say that I was fine, also. How did I do that? It was like I had a walkie-talkie implanted in my ear, and the other one was in the House. Maybe I _was_ a freak. Maybe that's why I'm trapped here.

I felt myself drifting. I stayed awake for another fifteen minutes, thinking about how much I wanted to be home with the others. Eventually, I gave in to exhaustion and closed my eyes.

I fell asleep thinking of the nightmares I would have to face tomorrow morning.

* * *

><p><strong>~Fabian's POV~<strong>

I waited.

_Rrrrrr . . . rrrrrr . . . rrrrrr . . . rrrrrr . . . rrrrrr . . . rrrrrr . . ._

Finally, I heard a voice on the other line. "Who is this?"

The voice was deep and buff, nothing like Nina's.

None of us spoke. I sat in the silence, listening to the rhythm of our breathing. I slowly pressed the button to turn on speaker phone.

"Hello?" The voice spoke again.

Suddenly, Amber came out of her state of shock. "_What did you do to Nina_?" She screamed into the phone.

The voice laughed. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

"Oh, _please_," Patricia spat. We're not idiots! _Who_ are you, _what_ did you do to Nina, and _why_ do you have her phone?"

"I believe that is confidential information."

Amber sucked in a breath. "What did you do to her?" She repeated. Her tone was wet with tears. She started to play with her fingers, like she always does when she's nervous.

I let out the breath I didn't even realize I was holding. "Look," I breathed, "if you can just give us Nina back, we promise that we'll back off - -"

"Hmm? Who's Nina?" There was amusement in his voice.

"Look, _weasel_," Patricia snarled. "We just want our friend back." I glanced at Patricia, and I saw a tear slide down her cheek.

"Yeah!" Amber chorused, and I saw the tears well up in her eyes.

The voice hesitated. "You want your friend back?"

"Yes!" We all screamed.

"Well, then _back off_. Because if I ever see any of you in my sight, I swear I will kill her within the hour." With that, he hung up.

"K - Kill her?" Alfie stuttered.

A stray tear slid down Amber's face, but she quickly wiped it away. "Who do you think it is? I mean, it can't be Rufus . . ."

I nodded in agreement, but I knew something that the others didn't.

There were two sides to this story.

One good.

One bad.

The good news?

I recognized the voice.

The bad news?

. . . I recognized the voice.

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><p><strong>AN - Really suckish chapter. Well, I had to get something out. I'm going to start calling this story DBA, just an abbreviation. Chapter 5 will be up soon. :D  
>-Julianna<strong>


	5. Close Your Eyes

**A/N - Hi everyone! *waves* I'm Smiley612, and I'm back with Chapter 5! :D  
>No homework today! This chapter went from being the shortest one so far, to the longest one. Shows you how much no homework can do to you. :)<br>I don't own House of Anubis. :(**

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><p><em><strong>~~. . . Just close your eyes. The sun is going down. You'll be alright. No one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound . . .~~<strong>_

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><p><em><span>Previously on Don't Be Afraid<span>__ . . ._

_The good news?_

_I recognized the voice._

_The bad news?_

_. . . I recognized the voice._

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><p><strong>~Nina's POV~<strong>

After I watched the man leave, I sneaked out of my room. I tiptoed through the main room, and stood at the door. I placed my hand on the golden handle, and took a deep breath.

Did I want to do this? Who knows what will be out there? The man could be there, standing in front of the doorway, waiting for me. I knew he wasn't, though. I watched him disappear through the fog about 30 yards away.

I didn't want to go through the fog. I didn't want to disappear. I wanted to get out of this house.

I drew in a shaky breath and counted to three. _One . . . two . . . three._ I turned the knob to the right and the door slowly popped open.

I stepped outside into the warm, welcoming air.

It was beautiful.

Right ahead of me, about 10 yards away, was a staircase. It was long, leading into the darkness down below. I carefully put one of my feet in front of the other. My feet were bare, so I was looking out for anything sharp or dangerous.

My white gown flowed in the steady breeze. It flowed down to my bare feet, had thin spaghetti straps, and was soaked in my own blood. I would have to wear this dress as long as I lived here.

I noticed a lake to my right. It was clear, a bright blue, reflecting anything within its range. I slowly walked toward it, kneeling at the edge. I caught a glimpse of my reflection.

My hair was neatly pinned down above my neck, matted down in my own blood, with stray strands floating around my head. A beautiful red flower sat an inch above my right ear.

A fresh, purple bruise was under my left eye. A little above my right eyebrow, a small cut was oozing a red liquid. Blood. I cupped my hands and dunked them under the water, and brought it to my forehead. Relief spread through my body.

I cupped my hands together to bring more water to the thin, wide cut on my upper arm, the large cut on my forearm, and the tiny one on my right shoulder blade.

I closed my eyes and felt the searing pain fade away. I could've stayed like this all day, but my curiosity got the best of me.

Right across from the lake stood a large, dense forest. I wondered if this was how the man had brought me here. Then my mind wandered to the fog that the man had disappeared through minutes ago. That was probably the main route out of here, but I didn't care. I knew that there was no possible way of getting out.

I walked over to the edge of the trees, and smiled. I thought about what might be in there, inside the Labyrinth of trees. I stepped onto the cold, hard dirt in my bare feet.

I wandered for about two hours. Trees clouded my vision. Eventually, I came across a berry bush. The leaves were bright green, with bright blue berries growing on the ends. I slowly picked one off of a leaf, and fed it to a nearby rabbit. It didn't drop dead, so I knew they were safe to eat. I picked up the rabbit, petted it's forehead, and set it down. I watched it scamper off.

I picked a dozen off of the branches and held them in my hand. I sat down on the ground, fixed my dress, and sat Indian-Style. I slowly brought the first one to my mouth, and broke the soft, delicate skin with my small teeth. Flavor exploded in my mouth. I smiled. These were much better than the stale bread the man has fed me for the last four days.

I wondered, if I were still at Anubis, where I would be right now? It was about noon when the man left. I had wandered around the woods for about two hours, so it was probably around two p.m. I would be just getting home from school now.

What about Sibuna? What would they be doing? I listened in on their conversation.

I didn't like doing that. What I was doing was the same thing as eavesdropping. What if he or she said something that they didn't want me to know?

I thought that listening in on Sibuna didn't count. I trusted them with my life. What harm could it cause?

I concentrated on the common room. I knew they would all be in there right now, right after school ended.

Eventually, I heard their voices. I heard Alfie's first.

_"I don't know, Jerome, it seems kind of mean . . ."_

_"C'mon, Alfie! It's just harmless fun."_

_"I don't know . . ."_

_"Don't be such a drip!"_

_". . . Fine."_

_"Good. Now, go outside to Trudy's garden and go digging for a cockroach."_

I smiled. It seems like some things never change. I tuned in to Mick's conversation . . .

_"So, animal cells have chloroplast?"_

_"No, only plant cells do!"_

_"So what do animal cells have?"_

_"Centrioles!"_

_"I thought plant cells had those!"_

_"Ugh! Mick, your hopeless!"_

Somehow, I knew I could help Mick. I didn't know how, but lately, I didn't know a lot of things around here.

I decided to listen to Fabian next. I smiled at the thought of him. I missed him so much. I wondered if she missed me too . . .

_"Patricia, are you trying to . . ."_

_"No. I want to try to call Nina again, but I'm scared that the man might pick up . . . who do you think it is, Fabian?"_

I gasped. They were trying to contact me . . . but, how? Patricia said that she called me. I must've dropped my phone along with my locket as I was being dragged away. The man must've heard it ringing and picked it up. I couldn't blame Patricia for being scared of him.

I knew that Fabian knew who it was. He didn't say it, but I knew he did. I also knew that he wouldn't tell the others, but I couldn't be mad at him for that. I would've done the same thing. He needed to tell them, though. This was important.

I muttered, breaking the silence of the woods, "Fabian, tell them . . ."

I knew that he couldn't hear me. I was hundreds of miles away from him . . . possibly even thousands. It was just nice to hear my own voice, not wet with tears, or cracked with pain. My own voice.

After filling my stomach with the delicious berries, I decided to wander a bit farther into the woods. I didn't see anything worth inspecting; only a few rocks, fences, and stray animals.

I knew that the man would come back soon. He always did. I turned around to go back the four hours I had put into this journey.

Three quarters through, I decided to listen in on Sibuna again. I missed them so much, and this was my only way of keeping in touch with them.

_"Maybe, on the way home from school, aliens came down and abducted her! . . . it could happen!"_

I laughed a whole-hearted laugh. Without thinking, I knew that was Joey. "I miss your alien rants . . ." I muttered to myself.

I suddenly felt tired, and I felt the need to go back upstairs in the house and hide in the corner, like I had been doing for the last four days. Exhaustion took over my thoughts and I eventually gave in and began to climb towards the house.

Right before I reached the door, I muttered something. I realized that it was the Chant I recited on my second day, the one that had brought Fabian here.

I realized my mistake as I saw the light get brighter. The Chant worked in the main room. It worked out here. It _didn't_ work in my room.

_My room must have borders,_I thought. _Maybe he enchanted them before he brought me here_.

I saw the welcoming chocolate brown eyes of the boy I love.

* * *

><p><strong>~Fabian's POV~<strong>

I walked into the House after school on Thursday. The day seemed to drag on forever, so it was nice to finally come home.

When I stepped into the doorway, I heard the familiar sounds of the House. Everyone was perched in the common room, doing their own things. Jerome and Alfie were sitting in the two chairs, leaning towards each other, talking in hushed voices. They kept glancing at Amber, who was sitting at the right-end of the couch, staring and picking at her perfectly manicured nails. Jerome and Alfie must be aiming their next big prank towards Amber.

Patricia was sitting next to her, in the middle of the couch. She held her cell phone in front of her face, as if she was expecting a call from someone. I wondered if she was . . .

I sat down next to her, on the left-end of the couch. "Patricia, are you trying to . . ." She glanced at me, and then turned back to her phone.

"No," she said. "I want to try to call Nina again, but I'm scared that the man might pick up . . . who do you think it is, Fabian?"

I gritted my teeth. I knew who the voice was on the phone yesterday, but I wasn't sure if I should tell Sibuna. It would scare them.

_"Fabian, tell them . . ."_

I jumped. I heard a voice . . . but who's was it? Amber was still fiddling with her nails; Jerome and Alfie were now on the floor, wrestling over the last biscuit; Mara was on the couch opposite Amber, Patricia and I, attempting to help Mick study; and Patricia was still staring at her phone.

"Cut it out." I told Patricia.

She regarded me with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You whispered in my ear for me to tell them." I stated simply.

Her expression was full of confusion. "I never whispered in your ear . . ."

"Well, then who was it?"

Patricia shrugged. I turned to Amber.

"Amber - -" She lifted her hand toward my face. The smell of fresh nail polish overwhelmed me.

"Don't even think about it."

"Yeah." I muttered. I got up off the couch and strode toward my room.

Who was the voice in my head? It wasn't Patricia, it wasn't Amber, and it couldn't have been Jerome and Alfie or Mara and Mick. Could it have been . . .

No. It couldn't be. I refuse to believe that. But, though, I kind of _wanted_ it to be . . .

I opened the door to my room and plopped down on my bed. I reached under my mattress, and grabbed the small wooden object.

I held Nina's locket in my hand. It was still glowing a vibrant red. I kept it in my room, under my mattress, so nobody would notice the locket. I just needed a reminder of her.

I breathed a miserable sigh, and sat down on my bed. I regarded the locket one last time, and then stuffed it under my mattress.

I heard the door open, and Mick strolled in. He was holding a banana in one hand, and his futball in the other. "Hey, mate," he greeted.

"Hey, Mick," I grinned at him. "So, how was you study session with Mara?"

"Ugh," he groaned. I chuckled. "Don't remind me."

"Why? Was it bad?" I asked.

"Extremely," he answered. "All Mara cared about was scoring a one hundred percent on the test."

I laughed. "Uh, yeah, Mick. I think that's kind of the point of studying."

He crashed onto his bed. "Why does studying have to be so _boring_?"

I smiled. "Hey, you're still spending time with your girlfriend."

"Yeah, about that . . ." he sat up. "I'm thinking I might break up with her."

"What? Why?"

"We've been arguing, fighting, ignoring each other . . . we just haven't been getting along."

I shrugged. "Well, if you love her, then . . ."

Mick sighed. "I don't even know anymore." He laid back down on his bed.

"Why don't you ask her to go on a walk with you? That might straighten things out," I said.

He was silent for a second. "Yeah . . .! I'll ask her later."

"Why not now . . .?"

"Eh, I'm too tired . . ." He flopped onto his back. I chuckled. "Why don't you and Nina come with - - uh, forget I said that! For_get_ I said that!"

I breathed a miserable sigh, and laid down on my bed, as Mick had done. "It's fine." I said. "It's not like it's your fault she went missing."

"If you don't mind me asking . . . what happened to her?" he asked carefully.

Oh, no. How was I supposed to word this? I thought about telling him, but then I wondered if Nina would want me to. I knew she wouldn't; she didn't want to put anyone else in danger because of herself. I thought of a way I could word it, without telling a lie.

"Um . . . well, on Monday, Mr. Winkler asked her to stay after school, and she agreed." The truth. "After that, she left to come home." Still the truth. "Then she . . . um . . . heard a noise in the woods." Lie. "She went in to inspect it." Lie. "Then she got lost," Lie. "and she never found her way back." Somewhat of a lie. "We think . . . we think someone kidnapped her when she was lost." That was the truth. Not the whole truth. But the truth.

"Who's _we_?" Mick asked.

"Um . . . me, Amber, Patricia, and Alfie." I answered.

"Oh, your little gang?"

"Uh . . . yeah."

I felt bad not telling him everything, but I knew it was for the best. I knew that he would _eventually_ find out, but he didn't need to know _now_.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day proceeded normally. Halfway through supper, Amber screamed at the top of her lungs. She stuttered that there was a cockroach in her spaghetti. Alfie and Jerome gave a high-five to each other, and then I knew that this was their big prank they were planning earlier.<p>

After supper, we each took a shower. Mick went in first, then me, then Jerome, and then Alfie. Alfie and I took to the common room as we waited for Patricia and Amber to finish their showers. After five minutes, Patricia descended the stairs, and sat next to me, and across from Alfie.

After waiting nineteen minutes for Amber, Patricia stormed up the stairs. We heard a few angry shouts, but eventually, Amber came down wearing a pink sweater and pink sweat pants. She sat next to Alfie and took his hand.

We began to talk about possible ideas as to where Nina was in my dream. We actually came up with good ideas - - well, except for Alfie's. _"Maybe, on the way home from school, aliens came down and abducted her! . . . it could happen!"_

Suddenly, Alfie's eyes grew to the size of golf balls. Amber took notice of this and squeezed his hand. "Alfie, are you okay?"

"Uh . . . yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." he said.

"No, you're not," I prompted. "What's wrong?"

"I heard a girl . . . she was laughing with me. She said that she missed my alien rants . . ." He looked around, as if making sure no one was watching him. He caught sight of Patricia. "Oh, very funny, Trixie."

She huffed. "First Fabian, now you? Stop blaming me for the voices you hear in your heads. I mean, it's not _my_ fault you're crazy . . ."

Alfie turned to me. "You heard her too?"

"Yeah . . ." I said. "How do you know it's a girl?"

Alfie shrugged. "It sounded like a girl." He bit his lip. "It kind of sounded like . . ." he stopped himself.

"Who did it sound like?" Amber asked.

Alfie sighed, and then he locked eyes with me. "It sounded like Nina."

My shoulders drooped. I closed my eyes for a moment. ". . . I was thinking the same thing."

"Do you think she's okay?" Alfie asked.

"I wouldn't know myself," I said miserably. I sighed and sat up straight again. I had to stay strong. For Nina's own good and mine.

Patricia was quiet for one second before she spoke. "Amber," she said, "why did you say that the man on the phone couldn't have been Rufus?"

I bit my lip to keep from speaking.

"Two days ago, Fabian and I went out searching for Nina, and we checked Rufus's warehouse, but Nina wasn't there." she explained.

"Do you think that maybe Rufus took her somewhere _else_?"

"Like where? There's no other places to hide around here."

"I'm sure there are - - that's why they're called _hiding places_." Patricia smirked.

"Look, we don't _who_ it was on the phone, okay?" I interrupted.

Lie.

"I just hope Nina's okay . . ." Alfie whispered.

We all nodded in agreement.

"And out of Rufus's grasp . . ." Patricia commented.

"_It is ten o'clock! You all know what that means! You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to hear a pin . . . drop . . _." Victor's voice boomed from the hallway.

Amber sighed, and grabbed Alfie's hand. She led him to the staircase, giggled, and kissed his cheek. Alfie smiled and walked back to his room. Patricia stared at her phone as she proceeded up the stairs, as if she was waiting for the man to call back.

Trust me, if she knew who it was, she wouldn't.

* * *

><p>My night was not dreamless.<p>

Just like last time, I struggled to regain my balance as I landed on the ground. As I re-obtained my footing, I registered my surroundings. To my left, a lake. To my right, a forest. Behind me, a staircase. In front of me, a house and Nina.

_NINA!_

I tried to run to her, but I was rooted to my spot. I tried calling out to her, but my voice wouldn't work. I couldn't do anything to get her attention.

I continually tried to call out her name, but nothing came out. Eventually, Nina turned around, and caught my gaze.

Her eyes lit up, suddenly full of life. She grinned until the ends of her mouth were touching her eyes. She laughed a weak laugh, wiped a tear from her cheek, and took a full sprint toward me.

She crashed into me, burying her face in my chest, crying hysterically. Her presence seemed to give me the strength to move, to speak. I held her close to me, softly stroking her hair. I kept whispering her name over and over.

She cried for another five minutes, until she hiccuped, sniffled, and then held her head high.

When she looked into my eyes, her lower lip trembled, and before she buried her face in my chest again, I wiped her tear away.

"D - Don't cry." I whispered. She exhaled slowly, her breath shaking. "Oh, Nina . . ." I hugged her tightly.

She sniffled again. "Fabian . . ." was all she said.

It was enough to make me cry. This time, she wiped my tear away. She gave a weak laugh.

We hugged again, and we didn't let go for one moment. We were perfectly content.

I heard a loud boom, and then suddenly I felt something wet on my hair. I looked up, and saw gray clouds covering the sky.

Nina didn't loosen her grip on me. I didn't loosen mine. We let the rain pour down on us.

After about five minutes, Nina pulled away. I held on to her arm. I wasn't about to let her disappear again.

She smiled at me. "Fabian, it's fine. I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh, Nina. Nina, I love you."

She smiled warmly. "I love you too."

I stared into her light-green eyes. They were full of fear of pain, but they also had a hint of happiness inside. I leaned in, and kissed her for the first time since Prom.

The rain continued to pour down on us. But I didn't care. All I cared about right now was Nina.

I couldn't risk her getting hurt like she already is. I saw the bruise under her right eye, and the cuts on her arms. I didn't dare go any farther than kissing her, now.

When we pulled back, Nina's hair was soaking wet. She grabbed my hand, squeezed it, and never let it go. I squeezed back tighter.

We let the sound of the rain drown out the silence. As time passed, I could feel myself fading. I didn't let myself disappear. Not yet.

"Come on, Nines. Let's get out of this horrible place," I said. I held on to her hand as I began walking the other direction. Nina didn't budge.

I looked back at her, and tears were once again streaming down her face.

"No, Love. Don't cry. It's all right . . ."

She drew in a shaky breath. "I - - I can't go."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm trapped here. This is where I am now," she said.

"So . . . you can't get out?"

She shook her head miserably.

"Nina, it's all going to be okay. We'll find a way out of this . . ."

My body was becoming more disconnected from this place. Nina started to recite a Chant, and I felt myself disappearing.

"No, Nina, don't go . . ." I held out my hand to her, and she took it, right before it disappeared.

"I'll see you later . . ."

Nina faded away into the darkness.

I bolt upright in bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - The ending is just . . . ugh. Fluffy. Horrible. Ugh.  
>I appreciate everyone who takes the time to review this story. It means a lot to me! :)<br>Chapter 6 should be up soon. :D  
>Stay tuned!<br>-Julianna  
><strong>


	6. When Your World's Crashing Down

**A/N - Did you hear? Nathalia's leaving HOA. She confirmed it on her Twitter. I'm sad now. :(**

**Anyway, Julianna here! I'm back with Chapter 6! There are some . . . odd experiences . . .**

**And, I just want to say, THIS STORY IS COMPLETELY MINE. I DID NOT STEAL IT FROM THE SONG OF DREAMS. I HAD THIS IDEA ABOUT A YEAR BEFORE THE SONG OF DREAMS CAME OUT. I EVEN PUBLISHED IT BEFORE THE GAME CAME OUT. THIS IDEA IS COMPLETELY MINE, AND I OWN IT. **

**. . . anyway, enjoy the chapter! :)  
><strong>

**-Julianna  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>**_

I bolted upright in bed. I struggled to get air in and out of my lungs.

My breathing rate hadn't yet calmed, but it was getting steadier. I loosened my death grip on my sheets, and set my hands on my knees. As my brain registered the familiar surroundings of my room, I could only process one thought...

_Nina's trapped. _

Eventually, my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. I could see Mick across the room, shifting around in his bed. He finally sat up, rubbed his eyes, and stared at me. "Fabian...?"

"Yeah," _In. Out_. "yeah..."

"Are you okay?" he asked sleepily.

"Kind of..." _In. Out._ "I had a dream."

"Another one?" Mick slowly pulled himself out of his bed and stumbled over to mine. "What was it about this time?"

"I can't remember," I mumbled.

"All right," He whispered. He got up off my bed and back into his. He pulled the covers to his head, turned toward the wall, and then I heard a loud exhale, so I knew he was asleep.

I ran my fingers through my hair. _I had another dream. They must mean something. _

Slowly and quietly, I pulled the comforter off of my body and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I tiptoed over to my backpack at the edge of the door. I grabbed the strap and swiftly walked back to my bed. I plopped down on top and quietly unzipped the pack. I delicately grabbed the edge of the black notebook and pulled it out. I ripped through my backpack to find a pencil and, eventually, I found one. I opened the cover of the notebook and flattened the first page. I was planning to use this notebook for the new unit in History Class, but it could wait. This was much more important.

I gripped the newly sharpened pencil in my right hand. I turned on my phone, silently praying that Mick wouldn't wake up again when the _do-do-do-doo_ went off. He quietly stirred, moved around, and then finally lay on his back, facing the ceiling.

I let out the breath I was holding. I shone the bright white light on the blank notebook page, flipped the pencil around in my fingers twice, and then placed the tip on the page.

_Thursday, October 20th, 2011 10:55 P.M.  
><em>_ I had another dream. This is the second one that Nina has been in. I had the first dream on Tuesday night. I found myself in an abandoned house, watching Nina scream in pain and cry out in agony, and I couldn't do anything about it.  
>Amber thinks I'm lying about being rooted to my spot. If I had been able to move, I would've helped her. I would've done something other than stand there like a log.<br>Nina was okay today, though. She hugged me so tight that I thought I would burst. Before she embraced me, I couldn't move at all. I couldn't speak. It wasn't like I was so shocked that I couldn't move, but like I was paralyzed. I couldn't move my legs or process any words. But when Nina hugged me as tightly as she did, power surged through me, and when she let go, it was like it all drained from me. Then when Nina grabbed my hand and squeezed it, I was granted some power.  
>We just stood there for a while, not saying one word. Nina gripping my shirt tightly, as if her life depended on it, it made me realize something.<br>I didn't just miss her. I loved her. I needed to save her from that man's clutches, or Nina won't make it another week.  
>I don't think any of the other Sibuna's know who it was on the phone. They wouldn't know who kidnapped her. Knowing myself who he is . . . it makes me want to punch a wall, but I know breaking my hand isn't going to help anything.<br>Nina said that she was trapped in that place. She never told me where that place was . . . or what. I saw a clear blue lake, a dense forest, a staircase, and a house.  
>In my first dream, Natalie was doubled over in a house. Could it be THAT house?<br>I wish I could go back there and ask her. Wait . . .  
>Is that place even real? Am I just imagining it? Was Karma just being a bitch by making me think that Nina's in trouble? Could it be MYSELF? Could I be so upset about Nina's disappearance that my own mind is making up for her absence by seeing her in my dreams?<br>Is Nina dead? Is that what she meant by being . . . trapped in that place? Was she already dead on Tuesday night?  
>No. I refuse to believe that she's dead. Nina wouldn't just give up like that. She wouldn't give up on us. Wouldn't give up on Sibuna. Wouldn't give up on the mystery. Wouldn't give up her own life.<br>If there's one thing I've learned about Nina in the year I've known her is that she doesn't go down without a fight. In fact, I've only seen her cry three times: once, when she thought she hospitalized Alfie, twice, on the night of the Prom, when she thought we failed Sarah, and on her first day here, after Patricia dumped that gallon of water on her lap.  
>She wouldn't just . . . die . . .<em>**  
><strong>

I heard the door creak open, and I saw a dark shadow. I stiffened as the footsteps grew louder and louder, until the figure appeared by my bedside.

"Fabian?"

I screamed, and the figure screamed too. It wasn't one to scare it off, but it was out of terror. I expected it to grab my neck and choke me to death, not ask what I was doing.

When the figure finished screaming, Mick mumbled something incoherent, flipped on his side, and faced the wall.

The figure was breathing heavily. They flipped the light switch on, and I could see their features.

The figure was a middle-aged woman with warm, welcoming brown eyes, which were now full of fear. She had reddish-brown hair, and she was wearing a purple bathrobe.

"Trudy!" I breathed.

Trudy had her hand on her heart, breathing heavily. "Fabian!" she returned.

"I'm so sorry, Trudy. I thought you were a murderer . . ." I said.

Trudy drew in one long breath. "Don't worry, it's fine." she said.

"Why are you in here?" I asked her.

"I was heading to the bathroom when I saw a light in your room, so I just came in to see if everything's okay," she explained.

I faked a smile. "Yeah. Everything's fine."

"Are you sure? What are you doing?"

"Oh! Um . . . I was just . . . fixing my notes for Science. Yeah, that's it."

". . . at 11:42 PM?"

"You know me, I never want to get behind in school," I said lamely.

"All right, but get some sleep." Trudy said.

I nodded, and shut off my phone. Trudy turned around and flipped the light switch off. She quietly opened the door, took a step outside, and just before the door was shut completely, she peeked her head in. "Good night," she sang in a whisper.

I smiled in return, and she shut the door. I was consumed by darkness.

I breathed a sigh as I grabbed the comforter from the corner of my bed, and brought it to my chin. Just before I fell asleep, I saw a pair of eyes.

They were a pale green, having a fierce look inside, but also fragile, as if one tiny mistake could shatter them. There was no mistaking them.

Those pair of eyes belonged to Nina.

* * *

><p>When my eyes opened again, it was still dark. My room was silent except for Mick's light breathing on the opposite side of the room.<p>

I turned my phone on again, and this time it said that it was 5:29 a.m.

I closed my eyes for a moment, and laid my head on the pillow. I felt my chest move up and down as I breathed.

I was still really tired, but I knew that I could never go back to sleep now. The silence was nice; the House is never this quiet. I listened to nothing but silence for a few minutes until it was gone, replaced by distant footsteps.

I peeled my eyes open. The footsteps were soft, delicate, and distant, but they were growing louder and closer. I quietly sat up, tore the covers off of my body, and advanced toward the sound. The footsteps were coming from outside my room.

When I opened my door, I expected to see Alfie and Jerome standing outside, waiting for me. I braced myself as I placed my hand on the cold bronze door knob.

I turned the knob to the right, slowly, hearing the slow, loud _reeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaak_ of the old, rusted hinges. I peeked outside, and then the footsteps stopped.

Suddenly, just like that. There was no sound coming from the hallway. I craned my neck to the right, expecting to see a dirty-blonde, blue-eyed tall teenager, accompanied by a dark-skinned, brown-eyed goofball. They weren't there. I sneaked over to the right, and quietly opened their door. And I was wrong.

They were right there, sleeping like logs. Jerome was sleeping on his back, his head facing the ceiling. Alfie was sprawled on his stomach, his head tilted toward the wall, drool very slowly dripping down his chin. I made a face, and then closed the door in front of me.

If it wasn't Jerome or Alfie . . . then maybe, it was Trudy?

The footsteps started again. They were softer than when I first heard them; like their owner was tip-toeing. They were farther apart, I heard one every second.

_Pat . . pat . . pat . ._

The footsteps were getting closer. My heart beat so fast, I thought it was going to pound out of my chest. _What was happening? Where were these footsteps coming from? Who did they belong to?_

I quickly made my way toward Trudy's room, desperate to avoid the footsteps, opening her door to find her curled on her side, lightly snoring. I closed her door.

_Pat pat . . pat pat . . pat pat . ._

I looked toward the stairs, thinking it may have been one of the girls coming down the stairs. Nobody was on the top of the stairs, or in the foyer, the common room, the kitchen, or the hallway. Even Victor was snoring loudly in his room above the stairs.

So the footsteps belonged to no one. Is that even possible?

I held my breath as I listened for more footsteps. I didn't hear any. I exhaled loudly. Maybe the footsteps were in my imagination all along. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Nothing's going to happen to us. If an intruder ever dared to set foot in Anubis, then Victor would rip them to shreds.

I dragged myself over to the common room, and plopped down on the couch. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the base, hoping that I would get some sleep.

_"Fabian, you know that you're not supposed to go to sleep in the common room. If anyone were to come in, they'd have a panic attic. Besides, you'll never get sleep here."_

My eyes jolted open, and the moment they registered the room, I heard a shrill gasp, and I saw a flash of white, brown, and red. I heard the footsteps again, this time, them being light, and quick, as if their owner was running.

I closed my eyes again and rubbed my temples. I obviously knew who the voice was. Did the footsteps belong to them too?

I didn't want to think about that right now. If the voice was right about anything, it would be that I wouldn't get back to sleep here. I didn't feel like going back inside my room to sleep, but I went in there anyway to grab a book. I grabbed the first book off of my bookshelf. I went back into the common room, plopped down on the couch again, and opened the cover.

I read for an hour and a half, until Trudy strode into the common room and gasped.

"Oh, Fabian. You scared me half to death. Would you please stop doing that?" She placed her hand on her heart again and started to make her way to the kitchen to begin cooking breakfast.

I chuckled, and followed her into the kitchen. "Sorry. Do you need any help with breakfast?"

Trudy smiled brightly at me, and I took that as a yes. Together, we made 21 slices of french toast, 33 slivers of bacon(including extras for Alfie and Jerome), and I poured 7 glasses of orange juice. I was about to pour 8, but then I remembered . . .

I shook the memory from my head and watched everyone file in. Mara was first to come downstairs, then Patricia, Jerome, Alfie, Amber, and then finally Mick came striding into the kitchen.

Nina's seat at the head of the table was empty, as it had been since Monday evening.

During breakfast, everyone started their own conversations. Mick was on my right, talking to the girl sitting next to him, who I presumed was Mara. I couldn't help but hear parts of their conversations. Apparently, Mick was taking my suggestion and asking Mara to come with him on a romantic stroll this evening.

Next to Mara sat Patricia at the opposite head of the table. She wasn't doing anything worth noticing, just playing with her breakfast and occasionally laughing at Alfie and Jerome.

They were gorging themselves with bacon. Alfie spoke with food in his mouth most of the time, trying to sweet-talk Amber. He apparently noticed Mick's offering and was making an offering of his own. Amber, however, was turning him down for whatever reason.

I was hiding my book under the table, trying to read as much as I could in the insanity of breakfast.

Eventually, everyone filed out of the door and made their way to the school. I put on my school uniform while I was reading my book early this morning. Before I headed out the door, I regarded Nina's locket. It hadn't stopped glowing since Amanda and I had found it on Tuesday afternoon. I placed it back under its new home under my mattress, and walked out of my room.

When I reached the front door, I heard something that I knew would haunt me for the rest of the day . . . maybe even for the next week.

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH_!"

Without thinking, I knew that it was Nina.

* * *

><p>As much as I wanted to go and search for Nina, I couldn't.<p>

Why? Because 1) I had no idea where to search, 2) I wasn't 100% sure it was her, and 3) I had a test in Science.

I was debating whether or not to go and look for her after the final bell rang, but before I could even take one step past my desk in History class, Mr. Winkler stopped me.

"Hm? Oh, hi, Mr. Winkler. What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

". . . have you heard anything on Nina's disappearance?"

I froze. He said that he had nothing to do with it, but I wasn't completely sure if I should trust him. Patricia certainly didn't. And, he asked me to report anything that I found out about her disappearance, and I had certainly found a whole _crap-load_ of things.

"Um . . . no, sir. I haven't heard anything," I said.

A look of confusion crossed his face. "That's strange . . ."

"What? Why?" Now I was confused.

"Because, I reported her disappearance to the police on Wednesday, and they told me that they'd found something yester-"

"_WHAT_?" I screamed.

His eyes widened. "Fabian? Is something wrong?"

"Well, yeah! Why'd you turn her in to the police? That could just put her in _more_ danger!" I exclaimed.

"Fabian, how could turning her in to the police _possibly_ put her in danger?"

I held my breath. I wasn't going to say anything to this freak. Patricia was right about him.

"Fabian?" he asked softly.

". . . nothing. I was wrong. You were right. Maybe . . ." I bit my lip. "Maybe the police can help us in finding Nina," I lied.

"Fabian, I'm sorry if this caused you trouble. I was only trying to help," Jason said.

"No, really, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Jason smiled at me, and I felt bad. He _had_ asked me to tell him everything I learned about Nina's disappearance, but there was no way I'm going to trust this creep now.

I left the classroom after that, and started to walk home. Everyone was still walking home together, and even though they wouldn't admit it, I knew why they were doing it. They were afraid that they were going to get taken as Nina did, because she was walking home alone.

I think that's kind of selfish.

I'm not sure why, though. It kind of irks me to see them help each other when they could've been helping Nina. But maybe I'm just being stupid. Maybe it's just out of fear that they might go missing and suffer what Natalie has gone through. Still, if Natalie can endure it, why can't they?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and set off for home. I caught up with the group a second before we stepped into the doorway, and Amber glanced at me. I could see the relief in her expression.

We all moved into the Common Room. Alfie and Jerome plopped down on the couch the second they walked in.

"Ahh. Thank God it's Friday," Alfie breathed, and set his feet on the table. Jerome mimicked him.

Trudy was in the kitchen, chopping up vegetables for tonight's supper.

There wasn't anything I noticed that seemed out of place. Mick stood up and held out his hand. Mara took it, and followed Mick out the front door. I guessed they were finally going on that walk.

I opened up my backpack and grabbed the notebook. I was pulling it out of bag when the phone rang.

"Amber, dear, would you mind getting that for me?" Trudy asked her from the kitchen. "My hands are dirty."

"Sure!" Amber's grin was so wide it touched the edge of her eyes. She skipped into the hallway and picked up the phone.

I set the notebook down on my lap. I opened up the first page and reviewed my notes from last night. I was planning to tell Sibuna about my dream later today.

That is, if what happened, hadn't happened.

Amber let out a high-pitched scream. We all rushed in there so fast, I don't even remember running in. We stood in a circle around the crying girl on the floor.

The phone receiver was on the table. I could faintly here the sounds coming through the phone, signaling that the person had hung up.

Alfie ran to Amber's side, and started to comfort her. Her sobs were calming, but tears still stained her cheeks and her eyes were a glowing, vicious red.

"A - Al - Alfie - the - they - they f -" Amber attempted to speak, choking on her tears. Then she completely broke down, crying into his shoulder.

"Shh . . ." Alfie soothed. He looked a little uncomfortable. "It's alright . . . what's wrong?"

Amber tried to speak, but her words were held back. She sat on the floor, speaking muffled words into Alfie's shoulder.

"The - fou - Ni - Ba - they fa - they found -"

Alfie was becoming impatient. "Amber! Calm down! Breathe! Enunciate the words!" he yelled.

"The - they - they fou - they found -"

"Keep going . . ."

"They found Nina's body!"


	7. Nightmares Do Come True

**A/N - Exactly 100 years ago, at 2:20 a.m. yesterday morning, the Titanic sunk underwater. R.I.P to all those who died. **

** Hey ya'll! I'm Julianna, back with Chapter 7! :) I decided to include the date in each chapter from now on, because it can get confusing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 6 of ****Don't Be Afraid****!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Friday, October 21st, 2011 2:13 p.m.**_

I didn't have the presence of mind to think, _Please God, don't let Nina die. _I wasn't brave enough to think, _I hope the man didn't kill her. _My only thought, playing on a repetitive loop, was _No, no, no, no, no._

Nina Martin was dead. Gone. Ended. Stopped. Finished. Terminated. Ceased.

Poof.

I had no idea what to do. As I watched Amber resume her hysterical crying, I could feel tears of my own threatening to come out. Two or three escaped my eyes, and they slid down my face.

Nina shouldn't have ended like that. In that man's clutches. I should've gone out and found her the moment I recognized the voice on the phone. But I didn't. And this was my punishment.

I didn't bother to wipe my tears away. We were all crying. Even Jerome, who was a professional at hiding his emotions, was misty-eyed.

There was a lonely, lingering stillness in the air. No one dared to say one word. To move one muscle. There was no sound in Anubis House except for the electrical current.

It remained like that for a while, until Trudy's cell phone rang.

"Sorry," she whispered, and slowly walked into the kitchen to answer it.

Amber turned to me. "What are we gonna do?" she cried. Her voice was soft, cracked, and muffled, but I could clearly understand her.

"I don't . . ." Another tear slid down my face. "I don't know . . ." I admitted.

"Well," Patricia said. She was crying, not as hard as Amber, but I could see the tears staining her cheeks clear as day. "We have to do something. We know that Nina's not dead, right?"

We remained silent. Alfie, who was rubbing Amber's back in an attempt to calm her down, bowed his head.

"Right?" Patricia looked at us expectantly. "C'mon, guys! If there's one thing we know about Nina, it's that she doesn't go down without a fight! She wouldn't allow whoever it was on phone on Wednesday _kill her_!"

"I'm not allowing her to die on me," I whispered.

"Fabian, she wouldn't." Alfie reassured me.

I felt like my heart had been ripped in half. Nina had surrendered to that evil man. I wanted to grab her dead body just to yell at her. Then I wanted to kiss her head, tell her I love her for the first and last time, and lay her down in her casket. I was so confused right now I didn't know what to feel.

"I know," I breathed. I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, every one was staring at me. "Amber, Patricia, Alfie, come with me."

Patricia wiped her eyes clear of any upcoming tears, and followed me outside. Amber got up with the help of Alfie, and she held on to him for support as they walked outside.

Amber looked horrible. She was shaking like a leaf as she and Alfie sat down on the bench opposite Patricia and I. Her eyes were that glowing, vicious red that only come out when someone insulted her best of her best friends.

I never knew Nina was that important to her.

She sniffled and clutched Alfie's hand so tight I could see his fingers paling.

"So, Fabian? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I said. Tears clouded my vision, and I quickly wiped them away. I felt too vulnerable. "I guess it's just . . . I never got to say goodbye. My girlfriend is dead, and I - -"

"_NO!" _Amber screamed.

Every head was turned to her. "NO! I can't believe you, Fabian! How _dare_ you think that! _You _of all people!" Then she broke down, tears cascading down her cheeks. She buried her face in Alfie's shirt and her cries became muffled.

"Um . . ." Alfie looked toward us. He made a circle motion with his fingers, telling us to continue.

_Nina's not dead. I believe it. I want to believe it._

I took a shaky breath, and continued. I wasn't about to let Nina slip away from me. I haven't even told her that I loved her yet.

"I'm sorry, guys. It's just - - this is all just . . . no."

They looked at me, silently asking me for more.

"It's just . . . I had another dream."

Amber sniffled, and looked up. "You did? What happened? Is Nina okay?"

I locked eyes with Amber. "Nina's . . . better than last time." I said, choosing my words carefully.

"How so?" Patricia questioned. Her eyes were full of concern.

"Um . . . well, she wasn't doubled over on the floor, screaming out in pain and agony . . . but she had a lot of bruises. There was one under her eye, a couple on her arms, more on her legs, and a huge one on her stomach. She had a lot of cuts and scrapes, too. She was so calm when I mentioned them, though. It was like she was _used_ to that kind of cruelty already. And that _really_ pisses me off."

Patricia was playing with her fingers. "And the man on the phone did that to her," It wasn't a question.

"That's what I'm guessing." I said miserably.

Patricia continued rubbing her fingers. I slightly tilted my head. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

She sighed. "It's nothing," she whispered.

"It's definitely something," I said. "What is it?"

Patricia shifted her face, so it looked mad. "It's just . . . last year, when Rufus kidnapped me, I tried my best to stay strong. To show him that I wasn't scared. But I can't say I didn't cry my eyes out while he was gone," she admitted. "By your description of Nina, I would say that she's much braver than I was when I was kidnapped. Do you think she ever cries?" she looked at me with concern.

"I know she cries," I said. "Patricia, Nina's tough. She's one of the toughest people I've ever met. But she's not a lot different than you. There comes a point when you just can't take it anymore, when you completely brake down. I'm surprised Nina hasn't reached that point yet. I mean, for God's sake, she gets ABUSED!"

Amber wiped her nose. "That man should've been the one to die. He doesn't deserve to live!" she cried. "Fabian, don't you care about that?"

"Amber, I want to _strangle _him right now, and then bring him back to life, so I can kill him a different way. Right now, I hate him more than anything in the world." I told her.

"On Wednesday, he threatened to kill her," Alfie piped up. He was being quieter than normal.

"I know." Tears once again threatened to overflow. "Guys, we know that Nina's not dead, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Alfie carefully removed his hand from Amber's grasp and turned to me.

"Fabian, how do you know that Nina's in danger? I mean, the dreams might not mean anything at all. Karma might just be kicking your ass." he explained.

"I know," I said. "But I can't help feeling that something is wrong. I've had weird dreams like those before, but this is different. Nina's trapped in that . . . place, and whenever I'm there, all the energy is sucked out of me. It's like I'm being summoned there, and when I'm there, it feels so real . . ." I trailed off.

"How do you know? Your mind could just be playing tricks on you. I mean, for all we know, Nina could just be wandering around in the woods somewhere . . ." Joey said.

"Alfie," Patricia began. "If Nina was just wandering around in the woods, she _would_ be dead right now. She should be lucky she was kidnapped . . ."

_Kidnapped. _

"We have to rescue her," I remarked.

"But we don't know where she is!" Amber cried.

". . . or do we?" I smirked.

"No, we don't." A look of confusion crossed Patricia's face.

"Guys, in my dream, Nina said that she was trapped there - -"

"Where is _there_?" Alfie asked.

"I don't know exactly. But I can describe it." I told them each and every detail of that place in my dream. I wondered what is was, where it was, and what part it would play in our search for Nina.

After I finished describing it, Alfie smirked. "Spooky. Maybe she's a shadow. Ooooooooh!" he wiggled his fingers.

I looked at Alfie with a face of utter disgust. "She's not dead! I refuse to believe that. I am not allowing her to die on me. Not now! She's not going to leave me just yet."

Amber regarded her pink, sparkly phone. It seemed out of place. How could things be so bright and happy, when my girlfriend could possibly be _dead_?

She looked up. "Guys, we should get back to the House. It's getting late, and Trudy's probably almost done with supper."

We all nodded, and got up from our spots on the benches. We silently made our way to the House.

On the way there, I felt a twinge of guilt.

For not staying after school on the day Nina went missing. For not continuing to search after Amber and I checked the warehouse. For leaving Nina alone to endure the pain in my first dream. For not being concerned about her kidnapper. For not protecting her in my second dream. For letting Nina slip away from me.

But that thing that hurt me most of all?

I never got to say goodbye.

* * *

><p>After Mara and Mick came home from their walk, Trudy told them that the police had found Nina's body. Mara had started crying, and Mick held her close, whispering soothing words in her ears. Mara may not have been as close to Nina as Amber, Patricia, or me, but she was still a friend, and I thought that crying was okay.<p>

During supper, no one talked. Even Jerome and Alfie didn't bother to cheer us up. Alfie only played with his food, staring at the broccoli on his plate.

Halfway through, Mick nudged me. I looked over to where he was sitting to my right. He mouthed, "I'm sorry," and went back to playing with his meal.

I was sorry too.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 10:45 a.m.<strong>_

The next day was Saturday. We all lounged around in the Common Room. None of us wanted to go out into Town today.

Amber had a blanket around her shoulders, sipping a cup of hot cocoa in the chilly October weather. She looked exhausted. Yesterday evening, she came out of her room crying, saying that she didn't want to sleep in there tonight. Patricia and Mara agreed to let her sleep in their room for the night. I understood where that was coming from.

I barely slept last night. Sleep wasn't important to me right now. I didn't know how, when, or what happened, because I _know_ the police didn't find Nina's body. She was too strong to give up like that.

When I woke up this morning, I tried to remember if I had a dream, but nothing came to mind. I miserably admitted that I didn't, because when I received my first two dreams, I could remember them clear as day.

Patricia was on the armchair next to me, absentmindedly scrolling through her cell phone. On the couch to my left, Mick and Mara were playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Jerome was next to Alfie, who was sitting next to Amber, keeping her company.

None of us wanted to do anything exciting today. We all hoped that we would get a miracle, and Nina would come bursting through the front doors, saying that this was all a cruel joke. Nothing happened.

I just hoped that Nina was safe, wherever she was.

Trudy took off today, also. She said that she was waiting for a call, because the police would tell her more about the crime scene, and when the funeral was.

Nothing came.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 1:19 p.m.<strong>_

Trudy kept us home from school on Monday. She didn't lie and say that we caught a cold, but she told the truth. Somehow, that made me feel worse. As she spoke to Mr. Sweet yesterday, I could feel my heart sinking to the pit of my chest.

On Tuesday, the next day, Trudy wanted us to go to school, and we didn't argue.

During final period, I couldn't help keeping silent. It's been over a week since Nina went missing, and I didn't want to talk to Mr. Winkler. We were halfway through the period when I _really_ wanted to go home.

Jason was teaching yet another lesson on Ancient Egypt. This time, it was on the Afterlife.

Mick was sitting on my right, keeping close attention to the lesson and writing notes with a black pen. The others were probably behind Mick and I.

I didn't feel like paying attention, especially with the possibility of seeing my girlfriend in a casket.

A little while later, Mick nudged my shoulder, and I craned my neck to look at him. He was pointing to my paper and making writing motions with his hands. I was surprised by this; Mick wasn't one to really care about school. Then I thought about when he said he was going to make an effort with Mara, and I realized where that came from.

I sighed, and grabbed my pencil off of the top of the desk. Mr. Winkler was talking about how the Egyptians believed that mummies were still alive.

I absently paid attention to the lesson, because I knew about this already. A couple of minutes later, Jason called our attention to the board, and began writing something out. When I turned back to my paper, I saw something strange.

Four words were highlighted in pink highlighter, in groups of two: **not dead** and **still alive**

I turned to Mick. "Did you do this?" I whispered to him.

He looked over at me? "What?" I pointed to the highlighted words. Confusion crossed his face. "No. Why would I have a pink highlighter?"

I was silent for two seconds. "Good point." Before I could turn around to ask Amber, she said, "Where's my pink highlighter? Oh, there it is." She reached down to the floor and picked it up where it laid under my chair.

Well, that eliminates that possibility.

I turned back to the front of the room, and tried to pay attention to the lesson, but those four words were haunting me. It couldn't have been Mick, and Amber had commented that she had lost her highlighter. Who could it be?

As I looked down at my paper again, I noticed something that wasn't there before. The highlighter markings had left the paper by a trail, going off the piece of loose-leaf. That was probably how the highlighter ended up on the floor.

Who would've done that?

When I craned my neck to look at the clock, I noticed something from the corner of my eye. And my heart nearly stopped.

Again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN -Really short chapter, and not one of my best. I promise I'll try to make others longer, and much better! Anywho, I really hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review!**

**-Julianna  
><strong>


	8. Biting the Bullet

**A/N - This chapter is an atrocious mess of words and I hate it. Anyway, I hope YOU enjoy this atrocious mess of a chapter.  
>-Julianna<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Nina<br>Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 5:01 a.m.**_

One of the most horrible ways to wake up is by getting kicked in the stomach. And trust me, I would know. This wouldn't be the first time.

"Get. Up. You. Worthless. Piece. Of. Shit." The man growled at me from above. I peeled my eyes open to find his ugly face scowling at me from above. "How many times have I told you? If I find you sleeping, you will pay."

I scrambled to get up before he could hurt me, but I was too late. He kicked me in the pit of my stomach, and the wind was knocked out of me. I couldn't get air through to my lungs. I fell down onto my back from where I was crouching.

I gripped my stomach. _Stay strong, Nina, _I told myself. _Don't let him see your pain. Don't give him that satisfaction._

The man laughed a horrible, evil laugh. I struggled to get air in and out of my lungs. _In through your nose, _I reminded myself. _Out through your mouth._

I was exhaling when the man stomped on my hand. I could literally hear the bones shatter as his boot collided with my skin.

I screamed out in agony. Nothing the man had done to me in the past 6 days could compare to the pain of right now. Tears fell down my face in buckets.

The man laughed. "I better not catch you sleeping again, or the consequences will be much worse. I wouldn't want to ruin your pretty face."

"Don't - -" I croaked. The air was even harder to get in now. "Don't call - - don't call me pretty." I meant to scream it, but it came out as a whisper.

"It won't be so pretty anymore," he smirked. He kicked my forehead, but I barely felt anything over the pain of my shattered hand. I could feel the blood rushing to my head.

My breath was loud and jagged. Air wasn't getting to my lungs. My world was spinning. I struggled to focus on the man. From what I could tell, he was pulling something out of thin air, but it was probably his pocket.

I blinked a couple of times, and my eyes registered a knife.

_A knife! He has a knife!_

I placed my good hand on the ground and tried to boost myself up. I barely got five inches off of the ground before I lost my balance, and fell down - right on my broken hand.

"Oh, my god!" I breathed.

"Trying to get up, are we?" He walked up to me, and I felt the tip of the knife blade graze my cheeks.

I brought my good hand to my cheek, and when I brought it back, I could faintly see something red on my fingers.

_Blood. My blood. _

The man laughed even harder. "Let's seal the deal, shall we? You won't be able to sleep after this." He kicked me full-force in the chest.

My eyes were huge. As I struggled with the task of breathing, I also had to endure the pain of my shattered hand, and my bruise that was worsening by the second.

The man snickered as she strode back toward the door. "Oh, and to the world, you're dead. So I wouldn't go out anytime soon, considering that the police 'found your body'." He laughed for the last time, and closed the door behind him.

_Huh? _I could barely process any thoughts longer than three words. My whole world was slipping away from me.

I knew that I was going to die here. Not now, not here, but in this prison. I wasn't allowing myself to die now. I wasn't going to give him pleasure.

_Fabian. Amber. Patricia. Alfie. Jerome. Mara. Mick. Anybody. Please. Help me. _

I tried to recite my chant, but I couldn't get past the first word. _Room, _I thought. _Borders. No dreams . . ._

I scrambled to my hands and knees, but my hand wouldn't hold up and I fell to the floor. I clutched my stomach with my good hand, and held my other hand close. Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't take it anymore. I had reached my breaking point.

I got one last look at my room before I blacked out.

* * *

><p><em><strong>6:34 p.m.<strong>_

_Get up. He will be back soon. Do you want another bruise? Get up. _

I had to command myself to get up from my spot on the floor. I laid on my back, looking at the blank, boring ceiling. I forced myself upright, and my whole world started spinning again. I held my good hand to my forehead, trying to get a hold of the world around me.

As the world began to settle, I thought about what happened last night. For a scary minute, I couldn't remember anything.

_My name is Nina Martin. I am sixteen years old. I am from America. I attend a boarding school in England. My boyfriend is Fabian Rutter. My best friends are Fabian and Amber Millington. I put together and protected the Cup of Ankh. _

_I am the Chosen One. _

It all slowly came back to me, bit by bit. Every piece made more sense as the next one came.

My chest, my hand, and my head were killing me. My headache was pounding, and the bruises under my right eye and a new, fresh one above my left eyebrow, where the man kicked me, started to ache. I tried to move by broken hand, but when I did, I screamed out in agony. The bones in my right hand were completely shattered.

I held my right hand with my left, and tried to focus on anything but the pain. _Anything but the pain . . ._

I thought about Anubis House, and everyone in it. Were they looking for me? Were the concerned about my disappearance at all? Did they care that I was kidnapped? Did they care that I get abused? Did they care that I was trapped in this place? Did they care about me at all?

I knew that Fabian did. He wouldn't give up on me. He promised me that he wouldn't give up on me. I trust him that he won't.

I struggled to get up, pushing myself upright with my good hand. I managed to somehow sit up, and I registered my surroundings. I was still in my room. I scooted back toward the wall, and leaned my head against it. I thought about what had happened since the man had brought me here.

Monday. That was the day the man kidnapped me. Tuesday. That was the day when I discovered my power. Wednesday. That was the day when I couldn't contact anyone. Thursday. That was the day when I finally got outside the house. Friday. That was the day when I figured out I could transport myself to other places. Saturday. That was when the man had broken my hand.

So today was either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how long I had been unconscious. Everyone would probably be home, or out in town. They probably forgot about me already.

I wouldn't be surprised if they had. In fact, I would rather them forget about me. That way, none of them would be in danger because of me.

As the pain in my head started to fade, I looked around my room. It was covered in dirt, with holes and cracks in the flooring. The chair had fallen down.

I struggled to my feet, and I instantly felt light-headed. I leaned against the wall for support. After the world stopped spinning, I flattened my blood-stained white dress, blinked a few times, and started to walk forward toward the door.

I knew it was locked even before I shook the knob. I grabbed a pin out of my hair, ruining my perfectly-styled hair. It fell down in a heap of loose curls.

I shook my head, my hair flinging wildly around my face. I smiled, feeling the relief of my now-free hair. My smile instantly faded. It hurt my face to smile.

I brought my good hand to my face, remembering how the man had sliced my cheek open. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was slowly healing.

I closed my eyes, remembering the horror of what happened on Saturday morning. I could still see the man's evil face, laughing at me as he crushed my bones. I could still hear the snap of my shattered hand. I shuddered, and I erased the memory from my mind.

As I took the first step out of my room and into the hallway, my hair magically re-pinned itself. I had no idea how it did that, but still, I had no idea how a lot of things happened lately.

I didn't know where I was. I didn't know what I did to end up here. I didn't know why the man was torturing me. I didn't know how I ended up in Fabian's dreams. I didn't know how I could hear my friends' conversations. I didn't know how I could transport myself to wherever I wanted to go.

There were so many questions that needed to be answered? But who could I ask?

I walked down the long hallway and into the main room. There were no borders around this room, unlike my room, so I could attempt to contact my friends.

I tried to transport myself to the Common Room. I figured that would be my best shot at getting to see everyone. I held my hands together as began to repeat the chant. I could barely get past the second word.

Air was getting to my lungs now. It still took some effort, but I could talk. My voice was horrifically hoarse, but I still couldn't say the third word. It was like it didn't exist or something, so I couldn't say it.

I had no idea what time it was, but I tried for dreams. It could possibly be nighttime, or even early morning. I started to recite the chant that I had on Tuesday and Thursday night, bringing Fabian here.

Where _was _here, exactly? The only thing I knew about this place was that I was stuck here. I didn't know where it was, or what I did to end up here.

I figured it didn't matter. I'd learn about it eventually. I'd probably be living here for the rest of my life.

I tried desperately to contact Fabian, but my voice wouldn't allow me to repeat the chant. Each attempt, I tried harder and harder, and each time, I failed. I tried to listen in on anyone's conversations, but I couldn't hear anything except silence. I even tried to transport myself to wherever Sibuna may be, but when I opened my eyes, I found myself in the blank, boring main room of the house. I was alone.

For the first time in six days, I was truly alone.

For the first time in six days, I was truly lonely.

I slowly walked back into my room and crashed onto the hard floor. I buried my face in my knees and cried myself to sleep.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 2:05 p.m.**_

It was Nina.

Lying on the floor.

Unconscious.

I had no freaking idea what to do.

I stood there gaping at my unconscious - but _alive_ - girlfriend on the floor. Her chest was moving up and down, but only slightly. I knew that if I didn't do anything, Nina _would_ be lying in a casket.

I had trouble getting air in my lungs. I could do nothing but stare at the girl I love.

Mick nudged me, and it brought me back to reality. I craned my neck to look at him, and he whispered, "What's wrong? You look really freaked out."

I could feel a tear fall down my face. I quickly wiped it away. "Nothing's wrong. I just . . . I . . . I just . . .thought of seeing Nina in a casket." That thought made another tear slide down my cheek.

Mick put his hand on my shoulder as the final bell rang. "Mate, I know this is hard for you. I don't think I could handle it if I saw Mara's dead body right in front of me. Like it or not, you're taking Nina's death-" I cringed when he said the word _death, _"really well. I mean, you liked her. I'm not sure about loved, but you definitely liked her!" he tried for a smile. "Did you ever say those three words to each other?"

Once. In my second dream. But that was only because the last time I saw her she was doubled over on the floor, screaming out in agony. I was caught up in the moment. But yet, she said that she loved me too . . .

I shook my head, telling Mick that I hadn't. He nodded and got up out of his chair. "Mick," I said, "you want to walk home together?"

"Ah, I can't." he told me. "We have a football meeting after school, and . . ." he trailed off and shrugged.

"Don't worry. It's fine." I smiled at him.

Daniel returned the smile, and he walked out the door.

I closed my eyes for a moment, muttering something that I couldn't remember. When I opened my eyes again, Nina was gone.

* * *

><p>I didn't bother catching up with the group after school. I still thought that they were being selfish, so I didn't want to be a part of their group.<p>

As usual, I was the last one inside the House. As I walked past the Common Room, where everyone was lounging around, doing their homework, I heard Amber call, "Fabian! There you are! Thank goodness you're okay! We thought that something might've happened to you!"

I scowled at everyone in the living room; deepening it when I caught sight of the members of Sibuna. They weren't doing anything to help find Nina; they didn't go out and search, they didn't go and ask the police about finding her body. It was like she never even existed.

On Sunday, I went to the police station and asked about Nina. They told me that a man had come and reported her death - he saw her body, checked her pulse, and confirmed her death. But before he could call the police or help her, someone took her away.

I immediately knew that his story was a lie. I knew that the man who had reported her death was her kidnapper - and he wouldn't kill her. When I recognized his voice on Wednesday, I knew why he kidnapped her. _Kidnapped._

Nina was abducted by that man. _The next time that I see him, I am going to kill him._

The man _kidnapped_ Nina for a reason. He wouldn't kill her off, because then he kidnapped her for no reason. And if he _did_ do that, I wouldn't just kill him . . .

I glared at Sibuna one more time before I made my way into my room. After I closed the door, I locked it, so Mick or someone else couldn't come in and interrupt me.

The sounds in the Common Room became muffled behind the locked door. I could faintly hear Amanda's high-pitched voice.

I sighed and sat down on my bed. I grabbed my notebook from my backpack and opened the cover. I reviewed the entries from the past 3 days. The second one was from Friday, right under the first one. I had written it during final period.

_Friday, October 21st, 2011 1:23 a.m.  
><em>_From what I can remember, I didn't have another dream. That makes me kind of mad, because I'm afraid of what the man might have done to her.  
>Last night, after Trudy came in and told me to get some sleep, I saw a pair of eyes. There was no mistaking them. They belonged to Nina.<br>After I finally got back to sleep, I woke up a couple of hours later, hearing footsteps. They freaked me out, because I didn't see anyone walking out in the halls. Then, after I sat down on the couch, I heard a voice.  
>Nina's voice.<br>This wasn't be the first time that I heard her voice. After school on Thursday, I heard her telling me to tell Sibuna who kidnapped her. I wasn't sure how she knew that I knew, or how she was speaking to me, but it was definitely her.  
>After I opened my eyes, I saw a flash of white, red, and brown. I knew that it was Nina; when I saw her in my first dream, she was wearing a beautiful white gown; she has brown hair; and she was also covered in scratches and bruises. She was also wearing a red flower in her hair. Did that mean anything?<br>How was she speaking to me? Did those footsteps belong to her? How was she appearing in the House? How was she appearing in my dreams?  
>There are some many questions that need to be answered. I hope that I'll get another dream soon. I need some answers . . . and I really miss her . . .<br>I need to see her soon. I can't help feeling that something is wrong . . ._

I nodded, agreeing with that thought. Something definitely went wrong on that day. Only 1 hour later, we had received the call that they had found Nina's body.

The _fake_ call.

I grit my teeth as I read the next entry, remembering the day we had gotten the call.

_Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 11:05 a.m  
><em>_Yester- __  
><em>_I ho-__  
><em>_The man-__  
><em>_She didn-__  
>There are no words for this<em>

A silent tear fell down my cheek as I remember the first couple of days after we received the call. We were all really shaken up - no, scratch that. We're all _still_ shaken up. That day, I was mad - no, _furious, _at Nina, at her kidnapper . . . and at myself. But at the same time, I was sad - no, _depressed. _Nina was gone. I never even got to say goodbye.

I wiped another tear away as I turned the page, reading the next entry.

_Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 12:30 p.m.  
><em>_You could've saved her.  
>Yeah, I could've. But I didn't.<br>I could've saved her on Monday.  
>But I didn't. I didn't stay after school with her, so I let the man kidnap her.<br>I could've saved her on Tuesday.  
>But I didn't. I didn't continue to search after Amber and I had checked the warehouse.<br>I could've saved her on Wednesday.  
>But I didn't. I didn't tell Sibuna who Nina's kidnapper was.<br>I could've saved her on Thursday.  
>But I didn't. I didn't stay with her in my second dream.<br>I could've saved her on Friday.  
>But I didn't. I didn't save her, and let the man kill her.<br>So technically, I'm the reason Nina Martin is dead._

I felt tears running down my face, and I quickly closed the notebook. I could write today's entry later.

_Window, _a voice - _Nina -_ said. _Come. Window - please. Please . . . _she begged.

I slowly got up from my bed and made my way to window. I wasn't sure what she wanted me to see, but I had a feeling it wasn't good.

I placed my hand on the windowsill, looking at the bright sun overhead. It was just past two p.m.

_Light, _Nina croaked. _Follow. Follow the light . . ._

I laughed. "Natalie, you sound kind of creepy. _Follow the light . . ."_ I mimicked her in a very bad voice.

Nina let out a weak giggle - a _real _giggle. _Just follow the light, Fabian._

I smiled. It was nice to know that Natalie still had a sense of humor in her.

But what light did she mean? The sun? How on earth would I follow the sun?

Then my eyes spotted a glow. A bright glow, radiating a vibrant red. I figured I couldn't follow the sun even if I tried, so I was aiming for that light.

I snuck out of my room and made my way past the group without being seen, which was a freaking _miracle_. I opened the front door of Anubis House, and made my way around it toward the back.

In the forest about a quarter mile behind the house, I spotted the light, which was glowing red. I ran toward it, having a sneaking suspicion what it might be.

And I was right.

As I approached the light source, I grabbed it off of the branch of the tree. I was holding Nina's locket in my hand.

I didn't even have time to think how it got here. I heard leaves cracking in front of me, and I looked up to see a familiar face.

Nina's face.

She was standing right in front of me.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - So many questions. Is she dead? Is she alive? Is that really her standing there? Is it her ghost? Will Sibuna find her? Well, my friends, I'm afraid that you'll have to wait and see . . .  
>-Julianna<br>**


	9. Two Seconds

**A/N - As I looked over the outline for this chapter, I realized that if I didn't want to make it unbelievably short, I'd have to make Nina and Fabian's conversation **_**really**_** long. I tried my best to make it long, but if it isn't, and this chapter is shorter than you hoped, then I'm sorry :(  
>Oh my god, I think that their conversation is so boring. Of course, it plays a part in the story, but it's just so BORING.<br>I don't own House of Anubis, sadly, but I do own this plotline.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Tuesday, October 25th, 2:42 p.m**_

The green eyes that I had grown so familiar with last year stared at me intently. They were the same eyes that had gone missing one week ago. The same eyes that had endured so much pain in the last week. The same eyes that I saw on Thursday night.

The same eyes that I had fallen in love with.

The air was crisp. I could see my breath in the air.

Nina didn't move. She didn't speak. She never broke away from my gaze for one second.

I couldn't form words. I couldn't move. Oh, no. Is this another dream? Had I fallen asleep in my room unknowing, and this is all a dream? That there was no chance that Nina could have escaped from that place?

Nina's green eyes were sad. Lonely. Like she wanted someone to walk up to her and give her a hug.

Which was exactly what I did.

I stumbled over to her and wrapped my arms around her. Her body stiffened. She took a shaky breath before she hugged me back.

I pulled back and held her by the shoulders. She was shaking like a leaf, but her gaze was still locked on mine.

I didn't have the words to say anything. My mouth couldn't form words. I could feel them on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't get them out.

Nina did. "Fabian . . ." she whispered. Her voice was hoarse.

"That's my name, the last time I checked." I said lamely, trying to add some humor to this awkward situation.

Nina let out a weak chuckle, but I could tell it was forced. She didn't say anything after that.

I had to keep this going. I was _not_ going to let Nina slip away from me again. I just didn't know how to keep this conversation up.

My eyes widened as I thought of something horrifying. "Nina. Is _he_ here? Is he - "

I was cut off by Nina. "No. No, he's not here." she responded, shaking her head.

I could almost feel the relief spread through my body. "Nina, come on. We should go back to the House before - "

Once again, she interrupted me. "I can't," she told me.

"Why?" I asked her. My voice was shaking a little bit.

She shook her head, almost to herself. "It's a long story."

"I have time," I said, almost desperately. "Tell me."

I could tell she was about to cry. "You don't want to hear it. You'd think I was a freak," she muttered, looking at the ground.

"Nina, I _know_ you're a freak," I smirked.

She didn't laugh.

"You can tell me," I said. "We're best friends. Nothing can change that, Nina."

"You say my name a lot, don't you?" she said, meeting my eyes.

"That's only because I can't believe you're actually here," I said, the tips of my mouth creeping upward.

"About that." she murmured.

_Uh-oh. _"What do you mean?"

"I'm not actually here," she whispered.

"But, how . . . if you're here . . . you're not . . . I'm confused." I muttered.

I was confused. But I didn't want it to be real. I wanted this all to be dream. A horrible nightmare. I was going to wake up and be in my bed on the morning of October 17th. This was all a dream. A bad dream.

I didn't realize I was muttering something until Nina said, "Fabian?" like a child would say, "Mommy?"

I felt like crying, but I held myself together. I looked up and met Nina's eyes. "How do you mean you're not here? You're right there. You're right in front of me. I can see you. I - I hugged you. You're solid - I can't - reach through you. You're right here." I fumbled over my words.

"It's complicated." she breathed, and I saw a tear slide down her cheek.

I wanted so desperately to wipe her tear away, hold her close, and say that was everything was going to be okay. But I couldn't. My legs were failing me.

As I looked at Nina, tears cascading down her cheeks, I noticed something that I hadn't before. She wasn't wearing the white dress that she was in my first and second dreams. She was wearing the same exact outfit she was the day she went missing. Same white blouse, red tie, and gray skirt. Same gray flats. Her body was completely flawless; no scratches, bruises, or cuts anywhere on her face, arms, or legs. Her skin was icy pale. Her hair laid around her head in messy tangles. I figured Amber would flip out if she saw that, knowing that she'd have to untangle it.

"Nina . . . are you dead? Did _he _kill you? Oh, the next time I see him . . ." I asked, tears threatening to overflow.

She shook her head, still looking at the ground. "No."

That's all she said.

The lingering silence stood in the air. I had to keep this conversation going.

"Nina, I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

"I know you didn't."

"It's all my fault. If I had just stayed after school on the seventeenth . . ." As I said that, it sounded really lame. Me not staying after school resulted in this.

"No, it's not."

"I miss you."

She didn't respond. She never once glanced up from the ground. She remained silent for an amount of time.

"Nina, is everything all right?" I said, reaching for her hand.

As soon as my hand collided with her's, she screamed. She jumped back and clutched her hand to her chest, softly crying. I could see tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Nina!" I said. "What's wrong? Oh, no, did I hurt you?"

"N - no," she said between sobs. "It's my fault. Don't worry about it." She gulped, and reluctantly removed her hand from between her brace.

"Can I see your hand?" I asked. She eyed me with suspicion. "I'm not going to hurt you, Nina. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," she answered almost immediately. She gave me her hand. I gently took it, and even with the slightest of touches, she winced.

"Can you move it?" I asked. She shook her head. I sighed. "It's broken, badly." I concluded.

"I know," she breathed. "I need - " she abruptly stopped.

"What? What do you need? I can go back to the House really quickly and grab the first aid kit. It might help. Or maybe we take you to the clinic - "

Nina stopped me. "No, don't bother. They won't be able to help me. I'm not really here."

"What does that mean?" I asked her.

"Fabian, you need to rescue me." she said.

"I know," I said simply, without hesitation. "We just don't know how. . . . Nina, on Thursday, you mentioned that you were trapped in that place. Where is that place?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "But I know it's not a good place. When I transport myself out of there, I land - "

"_Whoa whoa whoa. _Back up a little. You _transport_ yourself?"

"Long story," she muttered. "Fabian, you need to rescue me," she repeated. "I know you can do it. You have to believe in yourself."

"I couldn't even have made it this far without Amber, Patricia, or Alfie." I admitted.

"You need them in this quest. Everyone's special. Gifted. Including you. Fabian, you're the most important one in this quest. Without you, I'll never be able to come back to the House. Fabian, please. . . ." she begged.

"You know I will. I made a promise last year, remember? I promised you I wouldn't give up on you. I am _not_ giving up on that promise."

"Thank you so much. . . . what time is it?"

I looked down at my watch. "Um, 3:15." I answered.

Nina sighed. She looked so sad, I wanted to envelope her in another hug. "I have to go," she whispered, and took off into the woods. I reached out to her, but she was already too far away. Right before I was about to turn to leave, she turned around and said, "I miss you too." And then she sprinted into the wood.

And in 2 seconds, she was gone.

* * *

><p><em><strong>3:21 p.m.<strong>_

I walked back into the Common Room, tears staining my eyesight. This was the second time that I hadn't said goodbye. My chest felt heavy.

I plopped down into the corner of one of the couches, and pulled out my phone. For one second, I thought about calling her, but I knew only the man would answer and I'd get a death threat again.

Why did this have to happen to Nina? Couldn't it have been, like, Victor?

I thought of what happened outside. What she had said.

_"I'm not actually here"  
>"My hand is broken"<br>"I transport myself"  
>"You need to rescue me"<br>"You are the most important one in this quest"_

. . . I was? If I was the most important one in this quest . . . what will I have to do? Will I have to lead the others? Where will I lead them to? What is going to happen?

_What is this quest?_

I knew from the moment Trudy said the words, "She's missing" that I was stepping into something big.

* * *

><p><em><strong>4:38 p.m.<strong>_

Things returned to normal in the Common Room. I struck up a conversation with Amber, leaving out what just happened before.

I guess I was wrong, about everyone forgetting about Nina. I wasn't the one to bring her up; Amber was. She asked if I had found anything new, and I told her that I hadn't. She said that she really missed her old roomie and best friend.

I was kind of glad to hear that.

Alfie sat next to Amber, sitting in the armchair. When he noticed me, he bragged about A+ in Science: the first A he had ever gotten. He told us that he breezed through the test; he completed in under 5 minutes. Mara agreed, saying that she did the same thing. It wasn't a surprise, though, that she had gotten an A+ also.

Patricia jumped. "What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?" Jerome said.

"That sound!" Patricia announced.

We sat quietly, listening for 'that sound'. For one minute, we heard nothing.

"You're going crazy, Trixie." Jerome said.

"I'm not going crazy," Patricia muttered. "I heard that. I know I did."

"Well, none of us heard anything," Amber said, rubbing her pink ring on her right hand. "Maybe you are going crazy." She took a fashion magazine out of her bag. She had been reading and re-reading that same magazine for weeks now.

We returned to our conversations, but around 5 minutes later, Patricia yelped.

"There it is again! And it's louder this time!" she exclaimed.

"I do hear something," Mara said.

"Yeah, me too," I added.

"See! I'm not going crazy." Patricia commented.

Just then, Mick waddled into the Common Room, limping and holding his left leg. When he limped into the room, every eye turned to him.

"Mick!" Mara exclaimed, rushing toward him. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he groaned. "I just tripped over a piece of wood on the way back here and cut my leg. Is Trudy here? I need the first aid kit."

"No, she's out buying groceries. Here, come into the kitchen." she led him into the kitchen.

"I'll come," I said, and followed her into the kitchen. Amber, Alfie, and Jerome were trailing behind me.

I brought in a chair from the dining room for Mick to sit on. "Mick, where did you cut yourself?" I asked.

"Um, I don't know." he winced. "I forget."

Jerome rolled up his pant leg, but I didn't see anything. Just pale skin.

"I don't see anything," I said, voicing my thoughts.

"Yeah, me either," Mara commented.

"Fabian, are you crazy? It's right there!" Amber yelled, and pointed to Mick's leg.

Suddenly, it was right there. A huge scrape oozing blood sat in the middle of his leg. I closed my eyes for a second.

"Okay, we need to get alcohol, water - " Mara began.

" - soap and gauze." Alfie finished.

Mara regarded him with confusion. "That was exactly what I was going to say."

"No, don't bother." Jerome said, and waved them off. "I'll do it." he placed his hand on the wound, and muttered something incomprehensible. When he removed his hand, the wound was gone.

Mick stared at the skin where the wound once sat. It was completely gone. There was no sign at all that the cut had ever been there.

"Jerome, what did you do?" Mick's voice wasn't angry, it was shocked: amazed.

"I don't - I don't know." Jerome answered, just as shocked himself.

"Here, Mick," I said, and offered him my hand. "I'll help you up."

"Thanks," Mick said, and grabbed my hand. I hoisted him up, but when he stood, he wasn't in the kitchen anymore.

He was in the Common Room.

Patricia looked up from her phone in utter astonishment. "How the hell did you get there?"

"I don't know!" he exclaimed, just as much amazement in his voice as Patricia.

We all stared at Mick.

Mick teleported himself to the Common Room from the kitchen without trying. Patricia could hear Mick's limping from a mile outside the House. Amber could see the cut when no one else could. Alfie got an A on a test. Jerome healed Mick's thick cut.

What the hell was happening to us?

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Okay, it's 2 a.m. now. I'm really sorry if this sucks. I try to make every chapter 'count', like, if it doesn't include something that you figure out in the future of this story, then I think the chapter is worthless. Like, there won't be one whole chapter with just Jerome's pranks. If I do include Jerome's pranks, then they lead up to something in the quest. There are so many details in this story. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave a review! (;**  
><strong>-Julianna<strong>


	10. As a Team

**A/N - Sorry for the wait; I had a MAJOR case of writer's block. But I had to get something out, so this chapter might suck a lot. In fact, the next couple of chapters might suck, because we're getting to the main plot. I don't own HOA, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D**

_**Nina  
>Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 2:12 p.m.<strong>_

"Wow," I whispered.

My eyes scanned the clearing. It was filled with bright, beautiful pink flowers. To the right stood a cherry blossom tree. The wind was blowing the flowers all over the clearing.

I hoisted my dress up and walked barefoot through the flowers. They were wet and dewy, so I guessed that it had rained last night.

I made my way toward the tree and approached the bark. I placed my good hand on it, and my foot at the bottom of the tree.

My right hand was still broken. I could still feel the pain, but I forced myself to think of anything other than. If I didn't think about the pain, it didn't hurt as much.

I hoisted myself up and placed my foot on a safe spot higher off the ground. It took a while to reach the top of the tree, occasionally taking a break. When I hoisted myself up, my chest started to hurt, the bruise worsening. My arm, also filled with bruises, was no picnic either. Eventually, I sat on a branch near the top, overlooking the whole clearing.

The clearing was about a mile long, and a half-mile wide. The whole place was filled with pink flowers.

"Amber would flip out if she was here," I whispered to no one in particular.

The tree that I was in - the ONLY tree - was not that tall, so I couldn't see very far, but I could vaguely make out the house that the man was holding me in. The house was empty.

For now.

For the past nine days, I've been keeping track of when the man came back to the house, and when he left. On Monday morning, he made the mistake of telling me that it was five a.m. He had only been there for one minute, and he stayed for hours. I didn't know how long it was. Then, later, when he left, I went outside. When I looked up, he sun was right above my head. I guessed it was about noon.

Every day, the man had the same pattern. He would come in at five a.m., and then leave at noon.

Right after the man had disappeared through the fog this afternoon, I escaped from the house and starting venturing into the woods. I had been itching to explore it since last Thursday, when I first got out of the house. Now was my best chance, and I wasn't about to waste it.

I had wandered for about two hours, and eventually I found this clearing. I wasn't sure exactly where it was, but I had fifteen hours to myself before the man came back to the house.

I sighed and slumped back against the branch. I didn't bother to try and contact any of my friends.

I still had to think about the fact that they were still my friends. I wouldn't blame them if they didn't want to be my friend anymore. I was a freak. I could contact my friends through dreams, listen to their conversations, and transport myself to Anubis House. I still wanted to be their friend. They were my best friends in the whole entire world.

It's not like I had any friends back home in the United States. Ever since my parents died thirteen years ago, the kids at my old school had been called me names. They bullied me. They told me that I was the cause of my parents death. No one wanted to be my friend.

When I finally got accepted into the school in England, I thought that I would finally make friends. That thought was crushed on my first day, when Patricia blamed me for Joy's disappearance; a girl I didn't even know. The only thing that made it worse was the fact that everyone believed her.

I'm not exactly surprised that Alfie believed her, though.

But that was why I cried, out in the hallway after speaking with my Gran. She knew about the troubles I faced back in my old school. I didn't want to tell her I hadn't made any friends, that they all thought I was a murderer, so I lied to her.

Eventually, I guess, everyone softened up to me. They became my best friends. I'm not sure if I was one of their best friends, but they certainly were mine.

I just wished that they would still think of me as a friend. That they would spend their time thinking about me, even if they weren't looking. That's all I want. To be remembered as a friend.

My eyes were starting to close. I had barely gotten any sleep for the past week. I knew that I should've stayed awake, but then again, I had fifteen hours to myself. The man wouldn't be coming back now.

I closed my eyes and drifted off.

* * *

><p>I was home.<p>

I was back in Anubis House.

The familiar setting of the Common Room settled in, and it began to feel like home again. I smiled. I was finally home, with all of my friends.

I was wearing a colorful tee with boot-cut jeans. My brown tote-bag was slung over my shoulder. I was sitting on the couch closet to the dining table, and everyone was sitting around me.

I felt an arm around my shoulders, and when I turned to my right, I saw Fabian sitting next to me. He was absently scribbling different drawings all over his notebook. He noticed me staring at him, and smiled. He laced his fingers through mine, and brought me closer.

Everyone was sitting in the Common Room, doing their own things. It was like old times, before I had gone missing. Before this all had happened. It was like it never did.

There was nothing better than that feeling.

But then it all suddenly went away. The absent chatter in the room faded, and I was left with silence. And then the worst thing that could ever possibly happen did.

Everyone in the Common Room, my best friends, my family - Fabian, Amber, Patricia, Alfie, Jerome, Mara, and Mick - they all fell down onto the floor. Their eyes rolled back in their heads. Even Fabian lost hold of my grip and fell off of the couch and onto the floor.

"Fabian!" I screeched. I quickly scrambled off of the couch and knelt next to him. His chest wasn't moving. His eyes were rolled back.

I turned around to face the others. They were all lying on the floor, unconscious. None of them were breathing.

"Fabian! Amber! Patricia! Don't go! Please!" I could feel the tears streaming down my face. There was nothing I could do to stop them. Here I was, staring at the dead bodies of my favorite people in the world.

I didn't have to words to say anything. My whole world was just ripped out from under me in less that five seconds.

"Please!" I wiped a tear away. "Please . . . don't leave me . . ." I held on to Fabian's cold, dead hand.

I let the tears fall. I didn't care to stop them. My eyes were a frighting, vicious red when a familiar face walked in.

"I told you, Martin. I told you."

The man who had kidnapped me walked in with a knife in his hands.

That was it. That was the last straw. Nobody hurt my friends like that.

"HOW DARE YOU!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The man chuckled. "I told you, Martin. I told you that if you didn't obey me, you would pay the price. And it has been paid." he gestured to my dead friends.

"NO! BRING THEM BACK!" I yelled.

The man laughed again. "You're so stupid, girl. You of all people should know that you can't bring people back from the dead."

"DON'T CALL ME STUPID!" I said. Tears were flowing down my face in buckets. The man didn't respond. "YOU'RE A MURDERER! I HATE YOU! BRING THEM BACK!" I repeated.

"Stop it, girl. You disobeyed me. You had to pay."

"YOU'RE A MURDERER!"

"STOP IT!" He paused, staring at my friends. "Now, if you obey me, I won't -"

I cut him off. "I WILL NEVER OBEY YOU! YOU KILLED MY FRIENDS! I HATE YOU! I WILL NEVER OBEY YOU!"

"Very well. Let's see if you change your mind after this."

He flicked his wrist, and then something horrible happened.

Fabian and everyone else started to shake. They started flopping around like fish on land. And then they started screaming.

Terrible. Appalling. Horrid. Revolting.

That's how it felt to be standing right there in front. To have a front row seat of watching my best friends being tortured by the man who I hate more than anything in the world.

"STOP IT! PLEASE!"

The man didn't respond. I didn't know if he was just being rude, or if he couldn't hear me over the blood-curling screams.

Tears were streaming down my face. My head was killing me. I felt like I could just pass out right then and there.

I held myself together. I wasn't going to leave everyone I love like this.

"PLEASE! STOP IT! I WILL OBEY YOU! I PROMISE! JUST STOP HURTING THEM!"

Fabian and everyone else suddenly stopped shaking. Their screams House was silent.

The man walked up to me. I could hear his footsteps echo throughout the house. He was two inches from my tear-stained face. "You will?"

"YES! NOW JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Stop screaming."

I wanted to continue, but I knew that if I wanted to keep my friends safe, I had to obey him. "Okay."

The man smirked and walked up to me. He slapped me across the face. "Don't scream or cry, or your friends will die."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to curse. I wanted to thrash. I wanted to lot of things. But I didn't. For everyone's sake.

"Fine. Just leave us alone."

The man didn't say anything. I turned to Fabian and buried my face in his shirt. I let the tears fall down my face, not even bothering to wipe them away. I must've stayed like that for five minutes.

When I pulled back, his shirt was soaked with my tears.

The man looked out the window, as if making a hard decision."Tell you what, girl: I'll bring them back for a price."

I took a shaky breath. "Anything. Just bring them back."

"Give me your life, and I will revive them."

"Deal." I said without hesitation.

The man released a sickening smile, and he lunged at me with the knife. One second before the knife plunged into my body, I heard somebody scream.

I didn't even have time to realize it was me before I hit my head.

* * *

><p><em>Am I dead?<em>

I actually had to ask myself that.

_Am I dead?_

I heard a low thud, and then I saw the starry night sky. The moon was shining brightly overhead.

I didn't speak for a while. I didn't know who I was, where I was, or what I was doing here. My cheeks were soaking wet. My head was pounding.

Eventually, it all came back to me. I was sitting in Anubis House when it happened. The man killed my friends. My best friends. He tortured them. So I gave them my life.

I lifted up my dress to reveal nothing. No knife gash. Just a fading purple bruise. I sighed with relief. It hurt my chest.

I leaned my head against the base of the tree. I must've fallen out of it while I was having a nightmare.

That's all it was. A horrible nightmare. Nothing more than a nightmare. It hadn't happened. Fabian and the others hadn't been tortured.

I closed my eyes. I had made such a big mess. And now I had to fix it.

I could tell that it was night time, but I didn't think that it was five a.m. Sadly, that prediction was wrong.

I heard leaves being crushed under the weight of a boot. It was far, about two hours away, but I could hear it. Like always, I had no idea how I could do that, but I could. It seems like this place gives me powers that I can't control.

But I knew that crunch of the boot. It felt too familiar, but in a bad way.

Suddenly, I felt it. The snap of my hand as the bones shattered under the weight of a _boot._ _His boot. The man's boot. _

It was the man. He was coming back.

I was so screwed. I was two hours away from the house in some kind of flower field. There was no way in _hell_ I was going to make it back in time.

I figured I better start running. When the man saw that I wasn't in the house, he would find me. And he would kill me. I didn't stay alive this long for nothing. I wanted to go home; Emmy House. Where I belonged. Where all of my friends were. Where my family was.

The crunch of fallen leaves from the trees was getting louder. The man was advancing toward the House. I had to run. _Now._

_Run._

I slowly hoisted myself up using my good hand. I winced, flattened out my dress, and brushed myself off.

I sprinted into the trees.

_Run!_

I could feel the scratch of branches scraping against my feet, cutting my skin and letting the blood flow out. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to think of getting back to the house. I had to make it there before the man, or I'd be dead.

_RUN!_

And then I felt it. The wind whistling though my hair, the cold slamming against my face like a ton of bricks. It didn't feel like a burst of wind coming in suddenly. It felt like something else, an ultra-powerful source, something that doesn't come naturally.

Something only someone Chosen could do.

The trees zipped past me as if I was speeding at 200 miles per hour. The freezing wind was hurting my face and my body. My dress was flailing wildly in the wind.

I couldn't feel the scrape of the broken branches on my feet anymore. All I could see was a blur of green, the trees coming and going every second.

Only when I saw the opening of the trees did I realize that something was wrong.

I had been running for about 5 seconds, but when I came into the woods this morning and found that clearing, I had traveled for about two hours. Now, I entered the woods, and it only took 5 seconds to reach the house.

I heard the stomp of a boot, and I knew that the man was close.

"Crap!" I cursed, and started to run towards the House. This time, it didn't take 5 seconds. Running up the stairs took almost all of my willpower. I wanted to collapse right then and there.

I gasped in air when I got to the top of the staircase, and started running toward the house again. My lungs were tight. My breath was jagged, but I couldn't give up. Not with the man one minute behind me.

I finally opened the front door of the house and sprinted inside to my room. As soon as I reached it, I reached into my hair and pulled out the bobby-pin. My hands were shaking, but I eventually pushed the pin into the lock and turned it sideways. The door clicked opened.

I smiled, and as soon as I stepped into the room, I collapsed. I was on my hands and knees, scrambling over to the corner of the room. I could hear the front door open and close, and I knew that the man had come in. I made my way over to the corner and brought my knees to my chest, placing my head on top.

Ten seconds later, I heard my door open. I looked up from behind my knees and I saw the man's ugly face staring at me. He narrowed his eyes and threw bread into the middle of the room.

I wasn't hungry. I needed to catch my breath before I ate anything.

I sighed, closed my eyes, laced my hands together, and started to repeat the chant.

"_I wish, I wish, to see my friend, even if which my life shall end . . ."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 6:02 a.m.**_

It's quite hideous to see a pillow coming at your face the second you open your eyes.

The pillow smacked into my face, and I closed my eyes. My first thought was that the pillow should've been soft and delicate, but it was nothing like that. The collision with my face was hard. Rock hard.

"Ugh," I groaned. "Mick, what did you put in that thing? Bricks?"

Mick snorted. "Funny. Anyway, Trudy has been calling us for two minutes. We should really get to breakfast before she explodes."

I sighed with exasperation and threw the covers off of my body. I grabbed my uniform out of my closet and headed to the bathroom to get dressed.

It only took a minute to get everything on. I sat down in my seat at the table.

"Fabian, "Trudy said, "how wonderful to grace us with your presence."

I cringed. "Sorry." I apologized.

"Mm hmm." Trudy smiled at me as she put down my breakfast plate.

There were two slices of toast on my plate, and a full glass of orange juice to my side. I can usually only eat two slices, three at the most. But today I wasn't too hungry. After Nina sprinted off into the woods, I still had her locket in her hands. I don't know how it got out of my room in the first place, or if it had stopped glowing. I was going to have to find a better solution to hiding the locket, because Mick had complained on more than one occasion that there was a light coming from our room.

I wondered if the glow coming from the locket meant anything. It could possibly mean nothing at all. I didn't think that was true, though.

When Nina was here last term, when we were searching for the Cup of Ankh, the only time I saw her locket glowing was when there was a clue near. Nina had told me that she thought Sarah was telling her something whenever the locket glowed.

Now it wouldn't stop glowing. It had to mean something. Maybe it means that Nina is close. I highly doubted that, sadly.

Alfie had tried to convince me that the dreams meant nothing. That it was only my subconscious mind trying to make up for her absence. First of all, I had _no idea_ where Alfie had come up with that. Second of all, I was convinced that they meant something after I saw Nina yesterday.

It was like she was actually there . . .

I wasn't dreaming. I tried to convince myself that I was, but it was nothing like my previous dreams. I didn't feel like my body was being pulled apart when I saw Nina.

Last year, whenever I had a _normal_ dream, like being chased by a monster, I never had that pull-apart feeling. Now, whenever I have a dream with Nina, that feeling always comes. It's a feeling I can't control.

When I'm in that . . . place, that Nina's . . . trapped in, all the energy is sucked out of me. I feel like I can pass out right then and there, but I can't move. And that's another problem.

I can't move at all. I want to, I want to inspect that place, but I can't. It's like I'm paralyzed, but standing up. I can think the words I want to say, but my tongue won't obey me. My arms won't follow my movements. And I can't lift my legs off the pavement.

First things first: if I ever want to rescue Nina, then we have to find that place, learn about it, and then burn it down. It doesn't deserve to stay. It's the place where Nina was tortured. It should be destroyed.

Because I swear, out there, it's not where Nina should be.

She should be here, in Anubis House. It's where she belongs. Whether she likes it or not, we love her. And she loves us too. I want her to be here, right next to me, snuggling on the couch next to fire on a cold winter night. We'd be covered with the same blanket, sipping a cup of steaming hot cocoa. I sighed, thinking about how likely that us to happen. I missed her bad.

Amber, who was sitting beside me, was delicately holding a thin slice of toast that she tore off with her fingers. She put the slice in her mouth and licked her finger. "Fabian, have you found anything on Nina?" she whispered.

I shook my head, chewing on a slice of toast. I took a sip from my orange juice and looked down.

"Do you think she's okay?" she asked me. I shrugged. "Do you think the dreams mean anything? You've had two of them with Nina in it."

"I know," I said. "They're not like normal dreams."

"What do you think they are?"

I frowned. "I have no idea. But we'll figure it out."

"How? We don't even know where Nina is."

_Step one,_ I thought.

Breakfast proceeded normally. Amber and I continued our conversation about Nina's disappearance. Neither one of us liked to admit that she was in trouble, but she was, and we needed to save her. She didn't deserve to be trapped there, to get abused. None of us deserved that. Sibuna and I, we needed to find her.

I was going to find Nina Martin. No matter what it took.

* * *

><p>They all wanted to join. During Lunchtime, Patricia came up to Amber and I. She demanded that she wanted in on our 'search'. Her being in Sibuna, I let her in. And then, when we got home from school, Alfie came up and stood by Amber's side. He didn't say anything, but by the look of confidence on his face, I knew he was ready to step in.<p>

It made me happy, seeing everyone step in. It made me feel like we really were a team, even though Nina was gone.

* * *

><p>We all sat together, around the couch in the Common Room. Alfie and Patricia were on the floor facing the couch where Amber and I were sitting. Alfie was attempting to help Amber with homework, because she didn't understand the lecture. Patricia was sitting Indian-Style, breezing through her homework, but I saw her absently doodling something on the edge of her paper. I couldn't make out what it was.<p>

I was sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning against the arm. I had my Dream Log in my right hand, and my MP3 player in my left. The left earphone was placed in my ear.

Everyone in the Common Room as quiet, doing homework as Trudy insisted. I was halfway through with my French homework when my shirt started to get wet.

It wasn't like I was standing out in the rain, and my shirt was getting slightly soaked. It was like someone was lightly spraying me with a hose, but my shirt was still getting wet.

"Why is my shirt wet?" I said, voicing my thoughts.

Patricia looked at me from where she was sitting on the floor. "I don't know. My shirt's not wet. Alfie?" she looked at him.

"No."

"Yeah, mine's fine." Amber commented.

I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't exactly surprised at this kind of thing; weird things have been happening ever since Nina went missing 9 days ago.

For the next couple of minutes, everything was quiet. My shirt didn't continue to soak. Mick and Mara left to go somewhere, but I didn't care where they were going. Only Amber, Patricia, Alfie, Jerome and I were left in the Common Room. I didn't think anything else would happen.

But then I heard the most terrifying, blood curling scream, and I knew that something was wrong.

Jerome's eyes widened. "What was that?" He turned and glared at Sibuna and I. He started to get off the couch across from me and Amber and began to walk over.

Alfie was looking down, and I saw the fear in his eyes. Amber looked scared, and I could tell she knew what I was thinking. Patricia didn't really display any emotion. She continued doing her homework as if nothing had happened.

Jerome finally reached us. "Fabian," he growled. "What was that?"

Patricia looked up from her homework. "What was what? You're distracting me from my homework, Slimeball."

Jerome rolled his eyes. "Please, Patricia. Don't tell me you didn't hear that."

"Hear what?" Her eyes were searching for something. I could tell that she was telling the truth. She really didn't hear that scream.

It surprised me. The girl that heard Mick's walking from a mile away _didn't_ hear Nina's blood curling scream.

Don't ask me how I knew it was Nina. I just knew. After 9 days of hearing 4 screams, I kind of assumed it was Nina. It didn't surprise me one bit. Natalie was special; gifted.

Gifted. Yesterday, Nina told me that I was gifted. That every one of us was gifted. What had she meant? That we can hear her screams from wherever she's trapped?

That's not it, I could almost hear Nina saying. It wasn't her, like when I could hear her voice in my mind, but I could imagine it.

Alfie had told me that my dreams might just be making up for her absence. The voices could be that too, he told me. But I knew, as well as the dreams, that it was really Nina, really speaking to me. But it was only this time that I was imagining it.

Jerome rolled his eyes again and turned to me. "What was that?" he repeated.

I had to keep this a secret. It was the best way for Amber, Patricia and I to find Nina. We'd find her the quickest if we didn't get too many people involved.

"What was what?" I repeated, trying my best to sound oblivious.

Jerome stared at me. "Fabian," he said. "I know you heard it. Don't play dumb. This whole time, you've been rejecting me. Last year, I was part of Sibuna, remember? Nina told me I was in. So let me in. Who did that scream belong to, huh? Nina? I guess she really isn't _missing_ after all, huh?"

I glared at Jerome. "Actually, she is. And she's in danger." I turned to look at all my friends, staring at me expectantly.

"Nina's in danger. A lot of danger." I began. "And if we don't find her in time, she could get killed."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Don't kill me! I know it sucks! I had to get something out, because the main plot is finally starting! Whoop whoop! Anyhow, please leave a review!**


	11. A Leader Too Scared To Lead

**A/N -  
>PRAISE. THE. FREAKING. LORD.<br>I had completely forgotten my e-mail for my account, so I had no way of logging in. Thankfully, the laptop that I no longer hate, somehow remembered my e-mail. You should have seen my face after it logged me in. XD  
>Anywho, I do not own House of Anubis, or the characters, or . . . anything. I just own the ideas for this story.<br>I hope you enjoy Chapter 11.(:**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 9:48 p.m.**_

_Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 9:48 p.m.  
>It feels like forever since I've last written, but in reality it's only been three days. <em>

_It's been an odd three days. Well, then again, every day has been odd ever since Nina's disappearance. Speaking of Nina, she's really freaking annoying me. "We're gifted", "I'm not actually here" . . . she's driving me insane._

_But still, I lo-ike here. I need to find her. After all, she is our friend. We can't just leave her like that, alone and helpless. Even though she may annoy and confuse me, I want to see her again. I want another dream._

_I have come to the conclusion that the dreams mean something. Explanation later._

_I'm hoping that I'll somehow get a dream tonight. I'm not sure how I get the dreams, if it's something me or Nina does. I guess I'll find out tonight._

_~Fabian_

I set down the pen just as Mick walked in the door.

"Ready to go to bed, mate? I sure am." he said.

I smirked, knowing what I wanted to do tonight. "Yeah, Mick. I sure am. 'Night. See you in the morning."

"Mmm hmm," Mick mumbled, then turned on his side and faced the wall.

After I was sure that he'd fallen asleep, I grabbed Nina's locket from under my mattress. The glow illuminated the room. It was nice to somehow have a piece of Nina with me.

I had forgotten to give her locket back to her, the last time I saw her, when she wasn't actually "there'. I was planning on holding it tonight, for two reasons.

The first being, when I had the first dream, I was holding the locket in my hand. I had a feeling that it had something to do with how I'd had the dream. And also, if somehow, in my dream, I saw Nina, then I would give it back to her.

I saw a shooting star stream past my window. I know it was cliché, but I wished on the star for a dream.

* * *

><p>I have no idea if it was magic or pure luck, because that night, I had a dream.<p>

Like the first and second dreams, I landed on my feet as if I had just fell from a ten-story building, but no pain shot up my ankles. I had just re-gained my balance when I saw her.

She was standing there, as if nothing was wrong. As if I was just some normal friend that came for visits regularly. The look on her face was serious and determined. Her brown hair was pinned back behind her head, revealing forming and fading bruises. She had a small scrape on the top of her head that was no longer oozing blood. Her red-stained dress, which I also assumed was from blood, didn't flow in the wind, like the movies. It stayed put. That's when I realized that there was no wind blowing.

"Hello, Fabian." Nina said.

"Hello again," I responded.

She looked down at my hands, and that's when I realized I was holding her locket. "I see you have my locket."

"Oh! Yeah, I do. Do you want it back?" I asked.

She looked at me, her green eyes meeting my blue ones. "No. You must keep it."

"What?" I could feel the look of confusion cross my face. "But it's yours. You've had it since your second day at this school. Why don't you want it?"

She smiled. "Because it is a signal, Fabian."

I could already feel myself fading. I was leaving her already.

"What kind of signal?" I repeated.

"You will find out soon enough." she said. Then she narrowed her eyes, as if contemplating what she just said. "Actually, you might not. Not as long as I fight."

"What?" I asked her, raising my voice so she could hear me. The whole world around me was fading. I couldn't see Nina, or the place around her.

What was that place? I wished I knew. Maybe it would make things so easier.

"I will fight, Fabian. Do not worry. I will fight . . ."

"Nina, what do you mean?" The world started turning black. "Nina!" I yelled. The whole place faded out of view. "What do you mean . . .?" I whispered.

And then the whole world started spinning.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thursday, October 27<strong>__**th**__**, 2011 5:36 a.m.**_

The world was still spinning when I woke up.

I gripped the sheets, feeling as though I'd fall off the face of the Earth. The spinning continued for another couple of minutes, and when I finally got a hold of the world around me, I felt like I was going to throw up, which was exactly what I did.

I hurried to the bathroom, and gripped the toilet. I am _not _going to go into detail about what came out of mouth, so sorry to disappoint.

When the purging finally stopped, I sighed, and rested my head on the edge of the toilet seat, which was the only clean part. I closed my eyes, and thought of anything but the pain in my stomach.

The door opened, and I jumped, which only made my stomach feel worse. I rubbed my eyes free of sleep, until I saw the figure in the doorway.

It was a boy. He had a look of concern on his face, which was odd for him. "Fabian?" the figure said.

"Yeah," I gasped.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and started to walk toward me.

"Nothing. Just felt a little sick is all."

"Are you okay? Do you need me to get Trudy?" he said. He was being oddly nice to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I breathed. "No need to get Trudy."

"Do you need anything, like a glass of water or something?"

"No. No thank you, I don't need anything."

He nodded, and started to walk out of the bathroom.

I narrowed my eyes. Why would _he_, out of all the people in this house, come to help me? It seemed oddly out of character.

I couldn't stand it anymore. He was halfway out the door when I called, "Jerome?"

Jerome turned. "Yeah?"

"Why would you help me? I mean, not that I didn't appreciate it, but it's . . . you we're talking about."

Jerome sighed, obviously thinking about the answer. "I don't know. I just heard you throwing up in the bathroom and came over. I felt like it was my responsibility to help you, like it's my job. I don't know." He shrugged, looked down, and then finally walked out the door.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thursday, October 27th, 2011 6:05 a.m.<strong>_

I didn't have much of an appetite at breakfast. After my event in the bathroom and the dream, I didn't feel like eating.

I'm guessing Jerome told Trudy about this morning, because she told me I should stay home today. I told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. I figured it was no use arguing with our House Mother, so I decided to let it go.

I took a sip of my glass of water. Jerome was right. I should've asked for that glass of water earlier. I'm already on my fourth glass.

As I looked around the table, I noticed some . . . odd things. I saw Patricia reaching for a fruit in the fruit bowl, but she was apparently having trouble finding the orange and gripping it with her fingers. She fumbled around the fruit bowl, trying but failing to pick up the sweet fruit.

Alfie was trying to talk to Amber, but she was ignoring him. She kept stabbing her toast with her fork, perfect aim each time. After Alfie grew impatient, he yelled, "AMBER!", but she still didn't acknowledge him. Alfie grabbed her shoulders and shook her, and then she finally looked up. I could hear Alfie talking to her in a loud tone of voice, but all Amber did was raise her eyebrow. Patrica's hand, now further away from the fruit bowl than she was before, grazed Amber's hand. Amber turned around, fully aware of Patricia. Patricia muttered "Ew", and went back to searching the fruit bowl. With one more attempt, Alfie yelled Amber's name, and she finally turned to him. They started to argue about why she was ignoring him, and it looked like Alfie was winning, which completely surprised me. Alfie was such a goofball. I never expected him to win in an argument with _Amber_, but it seemed he was doing so now.

After about ten minutes of just staring at my food, I had completely lost my appetite. I got out of my chair and told Amber, Patricia, and Alfie to follow me to my room.

Patricia and Amber quickly got out of their seats and made their way toward my room, but when Alfie got up out of his seat, Jerome followed. They just stared at each other for a second, and then Jerome said, "Where are you going, Alfie? Huh?" he looked him straight in the eye.

"Nowhere. Fabian just wants us to see something." Alfie said smoothly.

I was impressed. Alfie had become a much better liar ever since he joined Sibuna.

"So why can't I see it? Maybe I want to." Jerome pressed.

"Because Fabian only wants his _closest_ friends to see it."

"What? Am I not a close friend?"

Alfie sighed and looked towards me. "You go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

I raised my eyebrow, silently asking _Are you sure?_

Alfie nodded and then turned back to face Jerome. I could hear traces of their argument as I walked down the hall.

I quietly opened the door and walked in. Amber was sitting on the left side of my bed, and Patricia was sitting backwards on a chair facing her. I walked over and sat on the right side of my bed.

"Guys, I had another dream."

Amber shot up her head from where she was looking down, playing with my comforter. "You did? What happened?"

I closed my eyes, trying to remember, but it seemed so hazy and far away. "I don't remember very well . . . Nina was there. She was in that place."

"Fabian, what does that place look like?" Alexa piped in.

"It's hard to describe it. But I can try my best."

And so I did. I told them about the house in the distance, the lake, the forest, and the staircase behind me. I didn't give them all the details, because in reality, I didn't remember them all.

Amber was turning away, facing the window. I had no idea what she was doing until she turned back towards me and Patricia.

She gave me a slip of paper. "Is this what it looked like?"

I examined the paper, and my eyes popped out of my head. "Amber. . . this is _exactly_ what it looks like, right down to the very last detail."

Amber's eyes lit up, like I had just given her the compliment of a lifetime. "Really?"

"Yeah. In honesty it's quite scary."

"Can I see it?" Patricia asked. I handed her the paper, and her eyes grew to the size of baseballs. "Wow! Amber, this is . . . this is amazing. It's like you've been drawing all your life . . ." Patricia stared in amazement at the paper. "How did you draw this?" she asked her.

Amber shrugged. "I don't know. When Fabian started explaining it, I just had this vision in my head of what it actually looked like, so I just grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper from Fabian's book bag over here," she lifted up my backpack, "and I started drawing what I saw."

"Well, Amber, what you saw was exactly correct." I told her.

Amber's face lit up like the Christmas tree in New York City. **(A/N – My friend gave me that simile when he described my face after he joked that he liked my favorite band. Gotta love him) **

"So, Nina was there?" Patricia said, attempting to keep this meeting going.

"Yeah . . ." I stared at the paper. I brought it out toward the middle so everyone can see. I placed my finger between the house and the staircase. "The distance between here and there is about one hundred feet. Nina and I were standing closer to the house than the staircase. I'd say about . . . here. And then . . . and then she greeted me. We said hello, and then . . . she noticed her locket in my hands. I asked her if she wanted it, but she said that she didn't. She said it was some kind of 'signal'. And that we wouldn't find out what it was as long as she kept fighting."

"Okay . . . lost you," Amber admitted.

"Don't worry, I was lost too. She's really annoying me right now with all of her riddles and crap."

Patricia laughed. "This is just like last year, when Sarah kept giving us those riddles, which we had no clue what they meant. Only this time, I think that they're harder. A signal that we won't find out? Will we not receive them or something?" she asked questioningly.

"I don't know. But like I told Amber the first day Nina went missing, we have to band together. It's the only way to save her. Remember Sibuna? Together, we're invincible."

Patricia cleared her throat. "Fabian?" she said. I turned toward her. "We're still not together."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean. We'll have to get Alfie to agree later, but for now, are you in?" I held my hand out.

Patricia attempted to place her hand on top of mine, but she was even more off than breakfast. Amber was bouncing up and down, glancing around the room as if she was bored. She didn't seem to hear what I had just said. "Amber?" I called. She didn't hear me again. "Amber!" I called, louder this time. It seemed oddly like breakfast, and it was scaring me. I decided to try one last time. "AMBER!" I yelled, as if she was ten blocks away.

She jumped, and then faced me. "WHAT?" she shouted, as if she _was_ ten blocks away.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"NO!" her yell was even louder than her first one.

"WHAT? WHY?" I tried to yell louder. I knew that this was probably drawing attention to us, but a little part of me made me think that this might have been an excuse to get Alfie in here.

Amber didn't respond to me. She was looking at me desperately, as if I could help her with something. I could see tears forming in her eyes, and she was mouthing something. "HELP!" she screamed. "HELP!" I had absolutely no idea why she was doing that. Maybe she really needed help, but she didn't look so. Possibly she was battling something inside of herself. "HELP!" the word sounded off. "HELP ME!"

"Amber? Amber, what's wrong?"

Patricia screamed. Now I was really freaking out. "Patricia?"

"Fabian, I can't see anything!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, a quiver in my voice.

"I can't see _anything_! It's all black!" I could hear the fear in her voice.

"HELP!" Amber's word was getting more disturbed. It didn't sound like the word _help_ anymore.

I tapped Amber's shoulders. She turned toward me, a tear streaming down her cheek. "Amber, what's wrong?" I asked fiercely.

She pointed toward her ears, and then shook her head. She grabbed her drawing out of my hands and the pencil from the bed. She quickly scribbled four words:

_I can't hear you_

"Fabian, I can't see anything!" Patricia screamed again.

My heart was pounding a mile a minute. I remembered Nina saying, _You are the most important one in this quest._

I placed my head in my hands and listened to Amber and Patricia's cries of fear as the leader was too scared to lead.

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><p><strong>AN - And that's Chapter 11! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to make updates much faster. Chapter 12 will be coming soon! :D  
>~Julianna<strong>


	12. Once More

**A/N – I literally finished this in less than a day. It was so easy to write. I guess I really am getting back into the thick of writing.  
>I said it eleven times already, but I'll say it again: I do not own House of Anubis, nor the characters. The only thing I own are the ideas of this story.<br>Enjoy, my fellow readers.(:**

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><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Thursday, October 27**__**th**__**, 2011 6:15 a.m.**_

Alfie ran in and I lifted my head out of my hands. Amber regarded him with a look of desperation. Patricia also turned towards him, but she had a blank look in her eye, and she wasn't blinking.

"I heard the screams," Alfie said. "What's happening?"

"Amber can't hear and Patricia can't see," I whispered, barely audible.

"What?" Alfie questioned.

"He said, I can't see and Amber can't hear," Patricia snarled. "and I swear, if I wasn't blind right now, I would come over there and slap you into the middle of next week."

Somehow, that was comforting. It was like we still had the same Patricia with us.

Amber was still screaming, but she couldn't hear them, according to her note. I could see tears forming in her eyes and some rolling down her face. Alfie went over and placed a comforting arm around her, and she seemed to relax a little bit.

"Fabian? Where are you?" Patricia asked.

I leaned over to where Patricia was sitting on her chair and placed my hand on her forearm. "I'm right here."

"What if I'll never see again? What if I'll be blind forever?" she asked me. I could hear the fear in her voice.

"I don't know . . . Patricia, I really don't know what to do. I guess maybe we'll just have to see. Hopefully this is temporary and not permanent. We'll go to the doctor, I promise." I said, attempting to calm her nerves.

"I hope you're right," she said, and began craning her head, looking around the room, even though she couldn't see it.

I sat back on the bed and tapped Amber's shoulders. "Amber, can you hear me?"

Well, that was a stupid question.

Alfie looked at me as if I was in idiot, which was how I felt. I grabbed Amber's drawing. I hated to draw on it, but now wasn't the time to go scavenging for paper. I quickly scribbled a couple of words on the back:

_Amber, can you hear me?_

She quickly responded with:

_No. Can Patricia hear?_

I grabbed the paper back from her.

_Yes, but she can't see. It seems like you've gone deaf all of a sudden, and Patricia has gone blind._

I gave her back the drawing. She took it from my hands, and started to write something back, but then she dropped the pencil. Her eyes widened, and she started to stare into the distance. I didn't know what she was doing, but I was almost too scared to ask.

After about three minutes, she frantically grabbed the paper from the bed and started to quickly scribble almost incoherent:

_Fabian, get Patricia! _

I regarded her with a look of confusion. I took the paper back.

_What? Why?_

After she took the paper from my hands, she started to write almost faster than the first time.

_Because! It's a long story! I know what to do now! Just get Patricia over near me! And tell her to hold both of my hands!_

It seemed odd to me, but I scooted over to the edge of the bed again and touched her forearm. Patricia jumped, but then she seemed to recognize the touch, and she softened up a bit. "Patricia, I need you to go over to Amber."

"Why? How does that help anything? I'll probably be blind forever! I'll never see again!" her voice was quivering. She wasn't just scared anymore . . . she was terrified. I understood that, though it almost surprised me. Here was Patricia, the toughest girl in the House, and she was crying. You would've thought that she'd face it more confidently. At the same time, I understood why she was freaking out. She might never be able to see the sky again, or the ocean, or the ground, people . . . or even herself.

"Trust me, Trixie. I'll lead you over to Amber. Just follow me." I said patiently, waiting for her to grab my hand, and I carefully pulled her around the chair. She leaned on my shoulder for support, feeling around with her foot before she stepped. Once I had to clear off some of Mick's textbooks, but otherwise the floor was clear. I sat Patricia down right next to Amber on my bed.

"Hold on a second." I told Patricia. I walked over to the other side of the bed, and grabbed Amber's drawing and the pencil again.

_Okay, Amber. Tell me what to do so I can tell Patricia. _

She grabbed the pencil from my hand and I handed her the drawing. She began writing, and she didn't finish for about four minutes.

_Tell Patricia to grab both of my hands. I know she'll probably oppose, but make sure she does it. It's the only way. Apparently we'll have to say something, but once we hold on to each other, we'll know what it is. I don't understand this at all, but I know it's right. I'll explain later._

I studied the sheet, and then once again, I touched Patricia's forearm. She didn't jump this time. "Okay, Patricia. I need you to grab both of Amber's hands."

Patricia made a face. "Ew," she said. "Why would I do that?"

"It's part of the plan, okay? Just do as I say."

Amber, still being able to see, grabbed both of Patricia's hands. She tried to pull back the first time, but Amber only squeezed harder. Patricia sighed and held on.

"And apparently you have to say something . . . but you'll know what it is. Patricia, do you know what it is?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered immediately.

I grabbed Amber's drawing one last time, and wrote in the only blank spot there was:

_Amber, do you know what to say?_

She looked at me and nodded.

They both closed their eyes and started to whisper:

"_I wish, I wish, to gain what we had, even if which our lives shall be bad, to see and hear for once more in our time, knowing which we shall commit our crimes."_

There was a bright, blinding yellow light illuminating the whole room. It blocked my view of anything and everything inside and outside my room. The whole room was completely yellow.

Somehow, I knew that the light was dangerous. I didn't know how, but I yelled to Alfie, _"Shield your eyes!"_

He did as he was told, and I followed. The vivid, intense, bright blinding yellow light was barely visible behind my hand-visor. Joey and I waited about thirty seconds, and then the light faded. I slowly removed my hands, and I noticed that Patricia and Amber were sitting on my bed. The life in Patricia's eyes had returned. I turned toward Amber and said her name. She smiled and responded by: "Fabian!"

And that's when I smiled.

* * *

><p><em><strong>6:42 a.m.<strong>_

"We're back."

We waltzed into the kitchen, where Mara, Mick, and Jerome were sitting. They acted as if nothing was wrong, as if they hadn't heard the screams or saw the dazzling yellow light coming from my room. They only thing that seemed different was Jerome's glare, aimed at Alfie, which I honestly wasn't surprised to see. Alfie had to have run off _somehow. _

We sat down in our seats, Amber and Patriciasitting as far away from each other as they could get. I sat down in my normal seat and started nibbling on my cold toast, but just as soon Lillian took my plate away.

"No more time for breakfast, Love. Off to school."

I sighed and waited for Mick and Mara to walk out, but Jerome stayed. He seemed persistent on wanting "in" with Sibuna.

"Once you let me in, I'll stop bothering you," he told us.

Alfie asked me to come outside, and then he shut the door behind us. I guessed he didn't want Jerome to hear this.

"Fabian, can we let him in?" he pleaded.

"I don't know, Alfie. He seems kind of shady. Remember last year, when he betrayed us by working for Rufus?"

"Yeah, but that was only . . ." Alfie faltered. "That was only to get money."

I stared at him. "Alfie, I don't mean to be rude, and you're one of my best friends, but how can you be that stupid? What if he does that same thing again? What if, we're this close to finding her" I held up my thumb and my index finger a centimeter apart to emphasize – "and then he gives away our secrets to someone? We could get in trouble! Or worse, the police could start to search for her!"

"What's so wrong about that?"

"Alfie, have you learned nothing? Do you remember Patricia's story about the police last year?" Alfie shook his head. "Patricia went to the police station to report Joy's disappearance last year, and then the officer called back, saying that Joy was safe and well at home. And she wasn't, was she?"

Alfie looked down and shook his head again.

"Look, I don't want that happening to Nina. The police could feed us wrong information and then we'd get caught up in their lies, and not focus on our search. It's better if we search for her on our own. That way, we'll have the clues we've gathered ourselves. We've already gathered some, you see?"

I grabbed Amber's drawing and Nina's locket out of my bag. Her locket was underneath all of my textbooks and notebooks, so they blocked out the glow. Amber's drawing was neatly folded. Somehow, I had a strange urge to protect the drawing and to preserve it.

I showed Alfie the drawing, and his eyes popped out of his head. "_Whoa_. Who drew this, Leonardo da Vinci?" he asked, incredulous.

I rolled my eyes but laughed at the same time. "No. Actually, Amber drew this."

Alfie's eyes grew so wide that I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets. "No way. Amber drew this?" he whistled. "Wow. My girlfriend's got talent."

I smiled. "Quite. Our first clue is that she's trapped here, in the place in this drawing. We don't know where it is, or what it is, but we plan to find out soon."

I handed him Nina's locket. "And this is our second clue. Last night, I had a dream–" Alfie cut me off.

"You had a dream? What? When? How?"

"I'll tell you later," I promised. "So anyway, I had a dream last night – that answers your second question – and she said that her locket is a signal of some sort, and that we won't find out what it is as long as she keeps fighting."

"What does she mean?"

"Honestly I have no idea. I think I've said this about ten times already, but Nina's seriously annoying me."

"You're girlfriend is annoying you?" Alfie asked with a slight smirk.

"Yes, actually, she is. Even during the dream she was like, 'Hello, Fabian,'" I said, crossing my arms, "It is so nice to see you again." I imitated, in a stubborn voice.

I heard a laugh. I didn't laugh, and it sounded to high-pitched to be Alfie's. Him and I were the only ones outside, so I figured out who it was.

It was Nina.

"It was funny, wasn't it?" I said jokingly.

_Yes, quite._

"Not really . . . I mean, you just made fun of your girlfriend . . . and you know how Nina can be. She'd pulverize you." Alfie stated.

"Yeah, I know." I thought about something for a second. "Come on, Alfie. Let's walk to school together. We have a lot of catching up to do."

* * *

><p><em><strong>2:32 p.m.<strong>_

Alfie and I were the first ones to step into the House after school. We were talking about random things, just catching up. When we stepped into the doorway, something stopped us abruptly. Trudy was standing in front of the door, hands on her hips. "Fabian Thomas Rutter," she said. That startled me for a second. She knew my middle name? "I told you that I didn't want you going to school today. You could've gotten sicker!"

"Trudy, I'm fine. Honestly," I said to her. "I just wasn't feeling up to weather last night. A glass of water did the trick. I'm all better now." I smiled at her.

She sighed. "If you get sick tomorrow, it's your fault."

"Yes, Trudy."

She gave me a smile and returned to the kitchen where she resumed cooking supper.

"Alfie, you want to do homework with me?" I asked him.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed. I had just sat down on the couch when he said, "Fabian?"

I looked up from my book bag. "Yeah?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

I gave a small laugh. "What, am I not nice?"

"No, you are, just . . . you're not always this kind to me. You sometimes treat me like I'm a joke."

I sighed. "I'm sorry if you thought that way, Alfie. But you have to admit, you are a goofball." Alfie smiled. "And I guess that the others and I thought that you wouldn't take the search seriously. That you'd make jokes about, and wouldn't want to participate. I guess that's why we treated you the way we did. And I'm sorry for that. But hey, we're all friends now, right?"

"Right," Alfie agreed. "You said that we all need to band together to find Nina. You mean _together_, right?"

I regarded him with a look of confusion. "Yeah. What else could that mean?"

"Together means that people are with one another, that something is done with others by joint effort. That means, you, me, Amber, Patricia, _Jerome, Mick, and Mara. _Matthew, if we ever want to find Nina, then we _all_ have to work together."

I blinked. "How did you know the definition of _together_? Even I didn't know that."

Alfie shrugged. "I have no idea. I just knew what it was. Kind of like . . . kind of like how Amber and Patricia knew what to say when they held on to each other. I can't explain it."

"Yeah, it looks like a lot of people can't explain things nowadays . . ." I sighed.

"What do you mean?" Alfie asked.

"Jerome didn't know why he came to help me this morning. Amber didn't know why she drew that drawing as precise as she did without even seeing that place, or how she knew how to hold Patricia's hand. And now you don't know why you know the definition of that word."

Alfie laughed. "Maybe I should stop spending time with Mara," he said.

I laughed along with him. It was nice to have one more friend who I could count on.

* * *

><p><em><strong>6:30 p.m.<strong>_

Eventually, everyone came home. Alfie and I didn't do homework together as we had planned, because Jerome called him over and they did homework together. It's not like I was jealous or anything, but once or twice I looked over at them, and I could sense the fear and anxiety in Alfie's eyes. I had gotten the impression that Jerome was pressing him to open up about Nina's disappearance.

Her disappearance was still a sore subject to me. I still couldn't stand the thought of someone taking her away from me and everyone else. We were practically family at Anubis House. Nina had joined that family last year, whether she liked it or not.

If someone took away my real family, my mum, my dad, my little sister . . . I don't think I could handle it. My mum and dad mean the world to me, and my little sister, Chloe, who's only nine, is my baby pumpkin. Mum and Dad are always working, so I'm always Chloe's babysitter. But honestly, neither of us cares. I enjoy watching Chloe and she enjoys my company. If someone took them away, I'd break down completely.

Nina told me last year that her parents died twelve years ago, which meant that she was three years old when they died, and she was three when her grandmother took her in. I couldn't believe that she had been able to deal with that at such a young age. She told me that she could barely remember them, but she had seen pictures of them.

I felt kind of sad about that, but I knew that there was nothing I could've done to stop it, and Nima agreed.

I just hoped that someday we'd find Nina in that place and we'd all be reunited again.

Trudy called us over to the supper table once she had finished cooking. Or, at least when the Chinese place in town finished cooking. An hour before, after she had finished _her_ cooking, Mick had distracted her as she was bringing the food to the table and she dropped all of the food. Trudy didn't feel like cooking another meal, so she ordered from the Chinese Restaurant.

"Food!" Jerome and Alfie cried, and then sprinted over to the table. Mick was quick to follow. I rolled my eyes but followed the others. Amber, Patricia, and Mara followed me and sat down at the table, Patricia and Amber on opposite sides.

Trudy placed the bag of food in the middle of the table, and left Jerome and Alfie searching like animals for their ordered meals. Mick and Mara, still trying to mend their relationship, decided to share a meal.

Amber, who was softly picking at her meal after eating, turned to me. "Hey, Fabian, do you want to open our fortunes together?"

I smiled. "Sure." I grabbed the fortune cookie labeled, "F". Yes, that's right. Trudy has to label the fortune cookies, or Mick, Jerome, or Alfie would eat them all. I opened my wrapper and cracked open the cookie at the same time as Amber. She was staring at hers, trying to make sense of the words, because usually the fortunes make no sense.

No, but mine did. In a scary, freaky, creepy kind of way. I knew what it meant and I was afraid because I did.

Because my fortune said, _Find me ~N_

* * *

><p><strong>AN – My best friend is obsessed with the song "My Immortal", by that group who I am too lazy to spell out. Whenever I ask her for an idea, because I love taking suggestions, she's like, put My Immortal into ****Don't Be Afraid****! I finally got her to shut up by saying I'd put in there, but I'm not going to. Hehe, I'm so mean. XD  
>Expect Chapter 13 sometime this week. :D<br>~Julianna  
><strong>


	13. The Clock is Ticking

**A/N - Shortness! D:  
>Chapter 14 will be up, probably about a day or two after I upload this, because this chapter is so TERRIBLY short.<br>I'm actually quite short. I have a short attention span, so I don't like reading long chapters, yet I feel the need to write long chapters. I'm just weird like that.  
>Pssh, I wish I owned House of Anubis. Because if I did, season 2 would've been much better. So no, I don't own it. :(<br>Have a sparkling day. :)  
><strong>**~Julianna**_**  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>**__**Thursday, October 27th, 2011 6:56 p.m.**_

_Find me. ~N_

Find me. Find "N". Find Nina.

I could do nothing but stare at the message from my fortune cookie. Things were now officially _weird_.

How the hell did this happen? It's not like Nina snuck out from that place, into the Chinese restaurant, wrote her own fortune and put it in my cookie. Just this morning, she'd been in that place, giving me mixed signals about what she was doing and where she was. And now she's leaving me a fortune.

"Fabian?" Amber said. "Fabian, what's wrong?"

I blinked. "Nothing. Just thinking about my fortune is all."

Amber nodded her head. "Okay," she said, and went back to picking at her meal.

_Nina, I will find you. Don't worry. I promise._

I sighed, and then picked up my fork.

_Thank you_, she said.

* * *

><p><em><span>Friday, October 28<span>th, 2011 12:03 a.m.  
>I'm actually not sure why I waited until midnight to write another entry. Possibly because it's "the witching hour", as Alfie would say. Mick has been asleep ever since, quite literally, his head hit the pillow at ten p.m. Right after I scooted into my bed, I asked Mick what we would do tomorrow after school, and he didn't respond. That's Mick for you. <em>

_Find me. ~N _

_What does that mean? Okay, I get the meaning of it. She wants me to find her. Duh. I know that. But what I also know is that there's a double meaning to it. That place that she's in – which we will have to find the name of, because I'm sick of writing "that place" – we can't just reach it by searching the woods. It's someplace special. It's not just an abandoned house. _

_Well, there is a house, but there's a whole place surrounding that house. There's a forest – I wonder if that's how she got in there._

_Maybe I can ask her tonight; if I get a dream. _

_Crap! I forgot to ask her last night if the locket helps me appear in the dreams! Well, that's one more thing that I'll ask her tonight._

_I kind of miss having old dreams, like falling off buildings, or being chased by a monster . . . I haven't had any of those since the seventeenth. Only those weird, crazy ass dreams._

_I wonder if the others have had any normal dreams lately.  
>~Fabian<em>

The clock on my phone now read 12:20 a.m., and I could feel my eyelids closing with every passing second. I gripped Nina's locket with my fingertips and brought it out outside my mattress. I played with it around in my hands for a minute, flipping it over, turning it around, just getting a good look at it. I never really noticed how beautiful it really was.

When I felt like my eyes couldn't stay open any longer, I yawned and laid down. I gripped the necklace hard so it wouldn't fall out of my hand. I took a deep breath and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>"Why did you bring my locket again?"<p>

"Because I need to ask you something."

"I told you, Fabian. I don't need it nor want it."

"No, not that. I was wondering if it had anything to do with why I was having these dreams."

Nina stood in front of me, staring. It made me feel kind of uncomfortable, but at the same time, I was glad to know she was actually there.

"No, Fabian. They do not have anything to do with why you have the dreams," she told me. "I control why these happen."

"You do?" I asked. "How?"

"It is long," she said, "and complicated. But I do not think you want to hear it."

"I have time!" I pleaded. "I have six hours before Trudy wakes us. Please, I want to know."

Nina sighed. "Actually, Fabian, you do not have the time. Our time is running out already."

I could tell she was right. The world was already spinning. I was _not_ going to let myself throw up again.

The only problem: I still couldn't move. I was still paralyzed. Nina's presence seemed to give me enough strength to talk, but I couldn't move my legs, or my arms. My left hand, which held her locket, just hung there like a lump.

She smiled at me, and placed her palm on my cheek. "Goodbye for now, Fabian. Tell the others that I miss them."

The world started spinning out of control, like I had just gotten off of a loopty roller coaster after ten hours.

"Wait!" I screamed, before I could fade into the darkness. "What is this place?"

"Even I do not know, Fabian." Nina said, and then the whole world turned black.

* * *

><p><em><strong>5:49 a.m.<strong>_

I woke up with a scream.

I quickly scrambled out of the bed, but not to the bathroom this time. I rushed to the kitchen, quietly grabbed a cup out of the cabinet above the sink, and let the water run into my cup. I sipped it all down quite quickly, and then leaned my head on my hand. I heard footsteps coming into the kitchen, and I turned to hide in the laundry room, but then I heard the voice:

"I can see you, you know."

I cringed. "Okay, Jerome. You saw me. What do you want?"

Jerome shrugged, and then smirked. "Oh, nothing. Just wanted to say, the glass of water would've helped yesterday." He started to walk away.

"I know that's not why you came, Jerome." I said.

He stopped in his tracks. He turned around and glared at me. "Yeah, Fabian, you're right. That's not why I came. Why I came is to ask why you won't let me in on your 'search'! Why won't you let me join?" His look became ferocious, and if looks could kill, I'd be dead.

I explained my reason, what I told Alfie yesterday. His expression softened. "Honestly, the only reason why I did that was because Alfie was keeping things from me. I was jealous. Alfie's my best friend, and I was kind of jealous that he wasn't including me."

I gave a weak laugh. "You, jealous?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, jealous."

"Jerome, that's the only reason why we won't let you in. We're afraid that you'll give away our secrets to someone, and then our whole search will be over. We'd have done all that work to have it being pulled out under our feet in less a second. Alfie and I were talking yesterday. He wanted to bring you in. You're his best friend, too. He doesn't like it."

"I don't know. I just want to be a part of this. I feel like I have to."

I shrugged. "I don't know, Jerome."

"Please, Fabian?"

That took me by surprise. "Did you just say _Please_?"

Jerome rolled his eyes, but gave a small chuckle. "Don't act so surprised, Fabian. I can be nice when I want to."

"Yeah, when you want to. Which is almost never."

I could feel a small smile creeping up. Maybe Jerome would make a good addition to our search.

Mick came peeking around the corner. "Fabian? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mick. I'm fine." I said, turning around to face him.

"Are you coming back to our room?"

"Yeah. I'll be there in a second."

Mick nodded, and then opened the door to our room. I started to walk toward it, but when I passed Jerome, I said, "I'll think about it", and then walked inside my room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>7:02 a.m.<strong>_

"Oh, crap. Oh, crap. Oh, crap."

I quickly scrambled around my room, trying to pack up all of my things. I was already two minutes late for school. Mr. Sweet was probably going to explode at me. I was out of breath already, looking for my notebook.

I sighed. "There it is," I muttered, running over to my desk, reaching behind it.

I growled. "Now where's my folder?" I started going in circles.

_It's under your bed, Fabian. How it got there is beyond me, but it's under your bed._

I narrowed my eyes, and crouched to look under it. As it turned out, it was there, right ahead of me.

'Thanks, Nina." I said.

_You're welcome._

My eyes popped out of my head. "You can hear me?"

Nina giggled. _Yes, obviously._

"But . . . but how? You're in that place, which you don't even know where or what it is, and I'm at Anubis House . . . we're in two different places. I don't understand. I thought I was just hearing your voice."

_No, it's actually me. Ask me something you don't know about me, and I'll answer._

This was crazy. This was insane. Yet I kept talking to myself, or Nina, or whoever was speaking.

"Um . . . how old were your parents when they died?"

I mentally slapped myself. Nina hated talking about that. It was a touchy subject for her. I couldn't ask something like, 'What's your second favorite color?' or 'if you could eat any food for the rest of your life, what would it be?' I just had to ask the touchy subject.

Nina hesitated for a moment. _They were thirty-three._

Thirty-three. That means that they were thirty when she was born. That means they would be forty-six right now if they hadn't died.

"Nina, how did they die?"

I knew that they had died in a car accident, but I also knew that there was something more to it. Whenever Nina spoke of it, which she almost never did, I could sense the fear in her voice, as if we were going to tease her or something. I will never understand why someone would make fun of another person because of a horrible tragedy.

Nina was silent for an even longer amount of time than the first. _A drunk driver smashed into them._

"Nina, I'm so sorry."

Nina sniffled. _It's not your fault, Fabian. You couldn't have done anything to save them. Neither could I. After all, we were only three._

"Nina, was the drunk driver ever found?" I asked.

_No, they never found him. But it's not a big deal. He was in America, and now I'm in England. He was drunk. He won't bother me anymore._

A bell went off in my head. She's in England. That's another clue!

"Were you in the car with them?"

_Yeah. . . . Fabian, could we stop talking about this? Please?_

"Yeah, of course. Sorry. So, it's really you. How am I hearing your voice?"

_How am I hearing _your _voice? I don't even know. If I focus on you, I can hear you. Same with the others. I'm talking from 'that place', as you said, and you're talking from Anubis. We can communicate with each other, even though we can't see each other. _

"How in the world does this work? I'm so confused right now." I said, closing my eyes.

_I was too. But you get used to it. . . . Fabian, I have to go. Remember to tell the others that I miss them, okay? Love you. _

I smiled. "Love you too."


	14. Same Old Bossy Nina

**A/N - I apologize for my horrid writing skills. ;x  
>So! I don't know what to write today . . . I guess I'll date it. The date is July 6th, but it'll be later by the time I update it. I created this . . . "system", I guess you can call it: I update a new chapter as soon as I finish the next one. So, I'll update with chapter 15 when I finish chapter 16.<br>I'm bored now, so let's just get to the story, shall we?  
>DISCLAIMER: I don't own House of Anubis. I'm going to say that a million times before this story's over. :P<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Amber<br>Friday, October 28th, 2011, 4:05 p.m.**_

"Awww!" I cooed.

Patricia glared at me. "Amber, would you _please_ stop being such a hopeless romantic?"

I regarded her. "Patricia, you've got to admit; it is cute."

"Yeah, because couples saying 'I love you', not even the first time, is _so_ cute."

I rolled my eyes, leaving the subject behind. "Fabian, what happened after that?"

Fabian closed his eyes for a moment. "Nothing," he said. "She didn't say anything after that. I grabbed my folder and left for school." His head bolted up, as if he had just found the meaning of life. "Oh! And she wanted me to say something."

Alfie looked up from his book bag, where he was absently flipping a pencil around in his hands. "What did she want you to say?"

"She wanted me to tell you that she missed you guys. All of you."

I felt my heart warm a little. After eleven days of not seeing, hearing, or even sleeping in the same room as Nina, it was nice to know she missed us, and I knew that _us_ included _me_.

It was still a little absurd, all this 'dream' business. I wasn't sure if I believed it or not, but it seemed like Fabian sure did. And apparently, this morning Fabian had heard Nina's voice in his head and he had a conversation with her. And at the end, which somehow, I found _incredibly_ cute, Nina had told Fabian that she loved him. I mean, Patricia was right; this wasn't the first time that they had told each other that they loved them, but after Nina went missing, it made those three words so much more meaningful.

I still didn't really like sleeping in my room for the past eleven days. For the first four, I had hopes that Nina would come back, but on day number five, I had picked up the phone that had told me they had found my friend's body.

"_Nina is dead"_

I could still hear the three words in the back of my mind. I was so shocked, so upset, so scared . . . I could barely grip the phone with my fingers. I could hear a slight humming noise, and my brain processed that the caller had hung up. Honestly, I thought that was quite rude, hanging up after just telling me that one of my best friends had passed away, without even apologizing for our loss, or telling us when the funeral was.

It's been exactly seven days, exactly a week, since I had heard those haunting words, but I still couldn't bear to think of it. Fabian had told me a couple of days later that the call was fake, that Nina wasn't actually dead, and at first, I didn't believe it. I still hadn't believed it until yesterday.

I didn't know which day was scarier; the day that I had received the call or yesterday, when I had lost my hearing and turned deaf.

I was terrified. I couldn't hear Fabian's voice, or Patricia's voice, Alfie's voice, or even _my_ voice. After sixteen years of hearing my voice and thinking that I might never be able to again, it petrified me. I started crying, and not even Alfie could make me feel better.

"_Amber, get a hold of Patricia's hands. You'll know what to do when you grab them."_

It was Nina's voice. I knew from the first word. Until then, I had truly believed that Nina was dead, that the man on the phone from Wednesday had killed her. I made a mental note that the next time I saw the man, whoever he was; I would kill him on sight. He had killed one of my best friends. He had to pay somehow, and I thought a life for a life was a fair deal.

My heart started racing when I realized Nina was talking to me. I was sure I was nervous; but in two different ways. Either I was happy that Nina was actually talking to me, or I was going crazy.

I still wasn't sure if I was imagining her voice, or if it was actually her. It seemed a bit absurd, but again, like always: Fabian believed it was her. He also believed that Nina was sending him the dreams, according to what he'd told us.

Oh, right, the meeting. Well, right after I had stepped in the door after school(which was quite rude, actually, also considering it was _Friday_), Fabian had grabbed me and dragged me into his room. Patricia and Alfie were already there. He started it off simple, the four words that I would probably hear for the next month or two, at least until we find Nina: "I had another dream".

Fabian said that Nina had mentioned that her locket had nothing to do with why he had the dreams, and that Nina controlled the dreams; but she had not said what the locket's signal was, or how she controlled the dreams. He also said that Nina didn't even know what or where that place was. And then, he explained his conversation with her at seven, before he left for school.

Honestly, I was starting to believe it. A little bit. It was still absurd, but I kind of wanted to believe it. I wanted to believe that Nina was safe, that the man on the phone hadn't hurt her, but a small part of me thought that Fabian was still in shock from Nina's death, and that his dreams were Nina's substitute. I mean, hearing her voice?

Okay, don't give me that look! I know I said I heard her voice yesterday when I had gone deaf, but consider this: I was Nina's friend too, not just Fabian! I missed her too! And besides, I was deaf! How could I have heard Nina's voice? It was probably my own thoughts in Nina's voice. Maybe my own mind was making up for her absence as well as Matthew.

Fabian claims that his dreams are real, that the Nina that he sees is _actually_ Nina, the Nina Samantha Martin we had spent a year with last term. I'll believe _that _when_ I_ get a dream.

I was still kind of mad at Nina for leaving us. I knew that she hadn't _planned_ on getting kidnapped, and that she doesn't _like_ being abducted either. I'm sure none of us do. None of us know what it's like to be abducted except Patricia and, well, Nina.

I thought of what I would do if I was abducted. I knew I had been, once, when Rufus locked Nina and I in his warehouse, but that was different for a couple of reasons. The first being, I was with Nina. I had another person there to convince me everything was going to be okay, and another person to talk to. Now that Nina's been taken, she has no one except that evil man.

The second being, I was only in the warehouse for a few hours, five at the most. Fabian had known something was wrong, I'm guessing, and came to find us. Nina's been gone for almost two weeks. She's been gone for eleven days, which is 264 hours, 15840 minutes, and 950400 seconds. We were locked in there for _five hours._

Now that I think back on it, Fabian and I really should've looked for her in the first day or two when we had the chance. We did, on day two, but we didn't find her. We looked in Rufus's warehouse and when we didn't see her, we went home. I didn't feel like a good friend. And, even, we didn't even look for her on the first day!

That made me feel like the worst friend in the world. What kind of friend doesn't look for their friend when they go missing? Nina must've felt crushed, but I knew that nothing she felt could've been worse than what I was feeling.

It made me wonder what Nina was feeling, how she was trapped in that place, according to Fabian. What could she feel? Pain? Loss? An ache for the friends she missed at Anubis House?

Yeah, yeah. I think we've cleared it up that we love her and all that, blah, blah, blah. We knew that she loved us, but sometimes, I thought different.

I was still mad at her for leaving us. I know she wasn't planning on getting abducted, and of course she doesn't enjoy the feeling, but, if Nina really did love us, than she would've fought to stay with us.

_Amber! How could you even think that? I love you guys more than anything in the entire world! You're my best friends, and I don't know what I would do without you! I'd probably be DEAD_ _right now without you!_

I screamed at the top of my lungs. That was Nina, I was sure of it. I wasn't imagining her voice. It was actually her.

"Amber, what's wrong?" Alfie asked, placing his hand on my forearm. I could literally hear Nina fuming in my mind.

"Nothing," I responded shakily. "I just . . . I just need to go out for some fresh air. I'll be back soon."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Alfie asked me.

"No," I answered almost immediately. "I'll be fine."

I got up from the floor where I was sitting, and made myself walk out of the door. I could feel Alfie's, Fabian's, and Patricia's stares on me as I walked out, but I ignored them and continued toward the front door.

"Amber, where are you going?" Mick asked me from where he was sitting in the Common Room. I ignored his comment, walking out in front. I shut the front door tight, so no sound would come through.

I took a deep breath and started walking towards the woods. _Amber, it's not safe in the woods. It's where I got kidnapped. _

I gasped. "Here?" My voice trembled. "Right here in these woods? Right where I'm standing?"

I could hear Nina sigh. _No, Amber. At the edge of the woods. Right where you found my locket._

She knew that we had her locket? How? If she really was trapped in that place that I had drawn . . .

Alright, let's back up a little.

* * *

><p>Yesterday, at breakfast, when Fabian called us into his room for a meeting, after Patricia asked him what 'that place' looked like, and after he explained it, I had a vision. I suddenly knew what the place looked like, every single detail popping out at me.<p>

After Fabian started to explain what it looked like, I felt like I was being sucked in a big black hole. I didn't thrash or fight it. The hole sucked me in, and I was gone from his room.

In the blink of an eye, the hole was gone, and I was standing in front of a huge house. It was three stories high, about 150 feet long, and about 45 feet wide, painted a bright shade of white. There were windows stuck to the bottom of the house, but there were none on the second or third floor. On the left side, there was a tiny addition, like somebody glued a big block of concrete on to the side. It was quite tiny, but also cute in the way a tower was cute.

To my left was a massive forest, going farther than the eye could see. There were at least one hundred trees in my vision, and I could also see little berry bushes and small, adorable little animals like rabbits hopping around, eating all the little berry bushes.

Then my vision changed. It did a three-sixty, and then suddenly I saw Nina sitting by the bush, delicately eating those berries off of the bush. I could see the bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over her body. And then, there were her eyes.

Her eyes were the worst part. They looked so frightened and terrified. Her eyes were green back home, but now you almost couldn't see the color behind all of her tears. There were at least three tears sliding down her cheeks, and I could see number 4 forming.

I could feel my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. Nina was one of my best friends. It hurt to see her like that, and I knew it was vice versa.

My vision did another three-sixty and I found myself back in the place, in front of the house again. I didn't want to leave Nina like that, but after I tried for the hundredth time to see her again, and I failed yet again, I gave up and continued searching the place.

When I looked to my right, there was a vast lake spread out. The lake was a clear blue, no little disgusting insects or small lily pads covering it. The lake covered the entire landscape until it finally ended right where the staircase started.

The staircase led to something important, I could tell, but I couldn't see what it was. Fabian had commented before about how he couldn't move at all, not even the slightest blink. He said, at first, he couldn't talk, but the presence of Nina seemed to give him the strength to utter words.

_Here I am_, I remember thinking. _This is the place, Fabian. Where's Nina?_

I heard a soft rustle in the woods, and I turned my head towards it eagerly, hoping that it would be Nina, but it was only a small bunny, probably lost.

"Where's Nina?" I whispered. I glanced around the place again. "_Where are you_?"

In another blink of an eye, I found myself back in Fabian's room, sitting right next to him on the bed. He had said about one word while I was zoning out. That was impossible! It seemed like forever!

He continued to explain what the place looked like, so I grabbed a piece of paper off of Fabian's desk, found a pencil and began drawing what I saw in my vision.

Fabian had commented about my art, saying it was amazing, perfect, and exactly what he had seen, and I felt proud of my work.

* * *

><p><em>Amber? Hello? Don't zone out on me, please. Please, I need someone.<em>

I realized it had been a couple of minutes since Nina has last spoken, and I hadn't responded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. Trust me."

I could hear Nina sniffle. _Thanks. Amber, would you please walk out of the woods? For me? Please? I don't want you getting hurt._

I tried to think about Nina had said to get me out here in the first place. Something about . . . her loving us, and me not thinking she did. I was so scared that I had come out here, and I made my way into the middle of the woods.

I narrowed my eyes. "No," I said simply, "I'm not coming out. If I talk to you out in the open, people are going to think I'm crazy and send me to a special hospital!"

_No, you don't – _

I cut her off. "No!" I protested**(A/N – Actually, Jimmy protested. I love the One Direction fandom. :P )**. "I'm not crazy! I'm staying in the woods!"

I could hear Nina's voice getting angrier and angrier._ Amber, you don't have to – _

"NO! I'm not going to leave! Stop making me do things!"

Nina took a deep breath. _Look, I just wanted to talk, and you're making me mad now._

"You can't do anything to me!" I yelled. "You're in that bloody place! We could be millions of miles apart, for all I know!"

_Amber. Please. Stop yelling. Please._

"Why?" I screamed, just to make her angry.

I wasn't sure why I wanted to make her angry. Maybe because she left all of us, and left me without a roommate, a study buddy, and a best friend. I guess I just wanted to keep her with me longer, to keep her talking,

_STOP IT! _Nina screamed. And then she broke down.

I could hear the sobs from here in the woods. She was crying hysterically . . . and she had no one to hold, no shoulder to cry on.

And now, I felt like the worst friend in the entire universe. I had made my best friend so mad to the point of where she started crying hysterically? What kind of evil friend am I?

"Nina . . . I . . . I'm sorry. I'm here, remember that. What did you want me to know?"

Nina sniffled. _It doesn't matter. _She hiccuped. _You wouldn't care anyway._

"Yes! Yes I would! I do care!" I pleaded. I wanted to make it up to her somehow for being such a bad friend. "Tell me, please."

Nina didn't answer for a while. I could hear her erratically breathing, and her light sobbing . . . and I made her do that.

Why was I feeling so guilty about making her cry? I mean, of course I felt bad. She was one of my best friends. But right now I felt like I had just committed the worst crime possible.

_Crap_, Nina wheezed. _Amber, I have to go. I'll talk to you later._

"Wait! Can't you stay a little longer? I want to talk to you about some stuff."

Nina sighed. _You can't ask me, because what I need to tell you is far more important. If your question is 'Am I going crazy?', the answer is no. I'm actually talking to you, Amber Jaqueline Millington, and you're talking to me, Nina Samantha Martin. But that's not important right now. Look, you and Patricia need to use your gifts carefully. Do you remember yesterday, when you and Patricia lost your senses? You went deaf, and Patricia went blind?_

Nina's voice was rushed, as if she was in a hurry. "Yeah, I remember. Wait. How do you know about that? Fabian didn't mention that he told you!" I said.

She groaned. _Look, I just know, okay? No time for explanations. You remember when you lost your senses, right? If you use too much of your power, then you'll go completely deaf, Amber. I don't want that happening to you. I don't want to see you in pain, tied down by your newly acquired disability that _I _gave you. _

"What? How would you make me go deaf? Would you take away my hearing?" I could almost hear the fear in my voice. Why would Nina take away my sense of hearing?

_No! _Nina screamed. _Amber, I would never do that. It's just . . . this place gives me powers I can't control. You have to learn how to harness your powers, and use them to your advantage. _

I sighed. "I don't want to go blind again . . ."

_If you use too much of your power, you will go deaf again. But you'll know what to do._

I thought about that for a moment. "What, hold on to Patricia and repeat the chant?"

_Yes, exactly._

"But I don't _know_ what the chant is. It just came to me after Patricia and I held hands."

_I know. And if you ever use too much of your power, you'll go deaf again, and Patricia will go blind. You'll need someone to help you get a hold of each other, because Patricia won't be able to see you. _

"What? Power? What's my power?" I asked.

_You'll figure it out in time,_ Nina promised. _Amber, I really have to go now. 'Bye._

"'Course," I muttered. "Just leave me again after talking with me for three minutes. Just like you left us eleven days ago."

Nina scoffed. _You think I left you? You think I _wanted _to get abducted? You think I _wanted _to have been brought to this place against my will? You think I _wanted_ to get abused? Amber, I didn't plan for any of this! I never wanted to leave you!_

"I haven't seen you in eleven days! And in best friend time, that's like eleven years! For those days, you've only talked to Fabian. Not me. Not your best friend. Wait. I guess I'm not your best friend. I guess Fabian's your best friend. You've only talked to him. Not me."

_Amber. Stop it. Right now. You need to stop over thinking this. You're taking this way too seriously. _

"Why? Isn't it true? If I'm your best friend, why haven't you tried to talk to me?" I yelled.

Nina didn't answer.

"That's what I thought." I said, and I stormed off.

After I was quite literally a second away from the House, Nina was courageous enough to speak up to her best friend, who she shouldn't have trouble speaking to _at all_.

_Amber, you don't understand. I – _

Me being mad, I cut her off. "No, I do understand! I just thought we were close! But apparently we aren't as close as I thought we were!" I fumed. "You didn't even bother to tell me what my power was! I mean, this whole thing is absurd, and you tell me I have _powers_, which I don't even think I have, yet you don't tell me what it is!"

_Amber, you do have powers, I just—_

"WHAT?" I screamed. "YOU JUST WHAT?"

Nina didn't respond, but two seconds later, the door to the House opened and there stood Mick.

"Amber? What's wrong? Why are you screaming? Are you hurt?"

I quickly wiped a stray tear from my cheek and faced him. I didn't want to talk to anybody. In the blink of an eye, I had just talked to my missing friend, and I had started a fight with her.

"No, I'm fine. I just saw something, that's why I screamed. Nothing's wrong." I answered.

Mick came over and placed him hand on my arm. "Are you sure?"

I was thinking about something, but I knew I shouldn't do it. He'd be _furious_ at me. He trusted me, and I couldn't let him down like that.

But who cares? Definitely not her. She wouldn't care. She barely knows him anyway.

"Yes, Mick. I'm sure." I made my final decision. I was going to do it. "Would you come inside with me?"

He looked confused for a moment, but he nodded, and led the way inside. We sat in the Common Room, which I thought was a horrible place to do it, but I guess it worked. I was talking with Nina for over five minutes, and they haven't looked for me, so I guessed it was safe.

He arched his eyebrows at me as we sat down on the couch. "What's up?" he asked me.

I closed my eyes for a moment, knowing that I'd get a stern scolding for this. I knew it was wrong, and I'd get yelled at. Most likely by multiple people.

"Mick, I have to tell you something."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - So? So? Was it good? So?  
>Personally, I think this was a boring chapter, like chapter 9. Well, chapter 15 will be up when I finish writing number 16, so on and so forth.<br>Have a sparkling day. :)  
>~Julianna<strong>


	15. A Non Meeting in the Girls' Bathroom

**A/N – To the anon who posted: "Can't they find Nina ALREADY?" Ah, my friend *waggles finger at you* - they will. Eventually. But if they found her now it would ruin the whole plot of the story. They'll have to piece the clues together to find her first. I'm not dragging it, haha. But I swear, my lovely, they WILL find her. :)  
>I don't own House of Anubis. . . I never did . . . and I never will. But I do own the idea for this story.<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Saturday, October 29th, 2011 8:00 a.m.**_

It was around eight a.m. when Amber walked into the dining room with her head hung low.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

She sat down in her seat across from me. "Don't ask," she muttered, then picked up her spoon and started to stir her cereal around.

"Too late. I already have."

She raised her head and regarded me. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't gotten sleep in a week. And to top that off, she looked awfully guilty, as if she had just killed someone. "Can we talk about it later, Fabian? I don't want to talk about it right now."

I bit my tongue. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I knew that now wasn't the best place to discuss it.

I took a sip from my cereal** (A/N – do you sip cereal or . . .?)**, and turned to my left. Mick was still glaring at me, as he had been since I woke up half an hour ago. I wasn't sure why he was glaring, but from the way he looked at Amber, I knew it had something to do with her.

Breakfast continued for a couple of minutes, and then Trudy walked out of the laundry room and into the kitchen. "Good morning, Lovies!" she exclaimed happily.

"Good morning, Trudy." We chorused.

She had a huge smile on her face as she made her way around the counter and towards the table. "Alright, as I'm sure everyone is aware, Halloween is in two days."

Jerome and Alfie pumped their fists in the air and made cheering noises.

"The younger kids love to trick or treat around the Houses, as you all know." Trudy continued.

"Aren't there more kids this year than last year?" Mara piped up.

"Yes, that's what I've heard, so we'll need to buy even more candy than last year. . . .and there's something different this year too!" Trudy smiled.

"What's different?" Patricia asked.

"Mr. Sweet is holding a contest!" Trudy exclaimed, like this was the most exiting news that the school had ever heard. "He says that whatever House is decorated the best, they'll get some sort of prize."

Alfie smirked. "What kind of prize?"

"I don't know yet, but if any of you want it, we'll have to decorate the House nicely! I'm going out to the store around noon to get some things for the celebration. Do any of you want to come?"

We all raised our hands.

Trudy laughed. "Wow. I didn't know all of you liked Halloween so much . . ."

Patricia shrugged. "We teenagers can have some fun, too."

"Alright. Then, you'll need to get ready, so meet me by the van in four hours."

* * *

><p><em><strong>11:30 a.m.<strong>_

Seeming as I had four hours to spare, I didn't get ready right way. Everyone kind of did their own thing for three and a half hours, and then they went into their rooms to get ready. I put on some jeans and a plaid shirt, and Mick was wearing his football shirt from school.

Victor told us a couple of weeks ago to share the bathroom time with our roommate. I didn't know why, but I didn't care enough to ask.

Mick and I were in the bathroom together, combing his hair while I was brushing my teeth. Mick and I weren't holding each others gazes, but every now and then I caught it, and he started staring at me again.

I spit out the toothpaste into the sink and faced him. "Mick, what's up? You've been glaring at me all morning. Did I do something wrong?"

He gave me a glare fiercer than the first. "Yes, actually, you did. And before you ask what it is, I'm not going to answer. You should know already. I thought you were my friend."

I could feel the look of confusion crossing my face as he set down the comb and walked out of the bathroom. I set the toothbrush down and started to walk towards him into the Common Room.

"Of course I'm your friend," I said. "I've known you for six years. You're my best friend. And, besides, I actually have _no idea_ what I did wrong!"

Mick rolled his eyes. He sat down on the couch and I sat down next to him. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" I pleaded.

Mick hesitated for a moment, but then he looked at me, opened his mouth as if to tell me, but then Patricia came waltzing into the room. She sat down on the couch across from me, and by the look on her face, I could swear she came in just to annoy me.

Mick paused. I sighed and looked over to Patricia. "Could you please go out of the room for a second?"

Patricia looked up from her cell phone (she's been fooling around on her lately. I don't know why . . . maybe that's another mystery I'll have to find out). "What, me?" she looked genuinely taken by surprise. "Why? I'm not bothering you."

"Well, you're interrupting something," I said. "Could you come back in a couple of minutes?"

Patricia rolled her eyes and got up off of the couch. She continued to fool around on her phone as she walked back up the stairs. As soon as I made sure the coast was clear, I turned around towards Mick again. "Go on."

He looked me straight in the eye. "Amber told me about Sibuna."

I could sense my blood starting to boil as I processed that sentence. Amber had told Mick about our club, the one we'd swore to keep secret. I _specifically_ told her not to do that, but yet, she goes and does it anyway.

I regarded Mick with a ferocious look, but it wasn't meant for him. It was meant for Amber. "She did?" I struggled to keep my temper under control.

"Yeah," Mick told me, and then he looked down, as if he were ashamed. "About everything; the Cup of Ankh last year and the truth about Nina's disappearance this year."

"She told you the truth about her disappearance, huh?"

Mick nodded his head. "I'm sorry."

I bowed my head. "I'm sorry too," I murmured.

"Maybe this will all work out okay," Mick said hopefully. "Maybe we'll find her. Maybe the . . . nightly occurrences will stop. Maybe you'll get her back." He said, but I knew he was only saying these things to cheer me up.

I didn't respond to him. He knew about everything. Amber had betrayed us.

Mick blinked, and then looked down. "Are you sorry about the fact that Amber told me the truth about Sibuna, or about the fact that Nina's dead?" he asked.

"Both," I said. "I mean – WAIT! She told you that Nina was _dead_?"

Mick nodded. "Yeah. I mean, she's been dead for a week now. We got the call last Friday, remember?"

"NO! Nina's _not dead_!" I exclaimed. I wasn't exactly sure why, but something about Nina's 'death' gets my blood churning. It was all over school. The first week, all I heard in the classes before they started were some things like: "Did you hear about that girl Nina?" or "I can't believe she passed away." It was horrible. At the time, I was the only one really convinced that Nina wasn't dead. And what hurt the most, was that everyone in Anubis did too.

"She's not dead!" I repeated. "She's alive! Flesh and bones, I promise you! She's alive, I can assure you . . . she's not dead . . . she's not dead . . ." the more I said it, the more I had to convince myself. Now that I thought about it, the clues did add up. Hearing her voice, seeing her figure, as if she was a ghost . . .

No. She's not dead. She's fully alive, in that torture chamber she now calls 'home'. Sibuna and I were going to save her. All four of us.

I gritted my teeth as I realized something. There were six of us. I hated myself for not including Nina; without her, none of us could've been possible. And there was one more . . . Mick.

I faced him. "Mick, we're going to need you to get something."

He looked taken aback. "Something? Like . . . what, exactly?" he questioned.

"Anything that's special to you," I explained.

"What? Why? What are we going to do?" he asked me.

I stood up, brushing my pants. "You'll see in a couple of minutes. Just go into our room, and find something that's precious. Meet me by the door. I'll be there soon." I explained, and then I rushed up the stairs and into the girl's bathroom.

* * *

><p>"AH! Fabian! You scared the life out of me!"<p>

I stood in the door frame of the girl's bathroom, staring at Patricia, who had her hand to her heart. Amber was standing over the sink, brushing her teeth as if she were scared I would notice her.

"Sorry, Patricia. I just had to tell you something." I explained, and then slowly walked in. Amber closed her eyes and stiffened as I walked past her. "We can't go shopping for Halloween today. We'll need to postpone it until tomorrow."

Patricia looked slightly disappointed. "Why? I was kind of looking forward to Halloween. I want to see what pranks Jerome and Alfie pull this year," she said, and then smirked.

"Well, we'll need to see tomorrow, because we've got a new member to initiate." I looked over at Amber, but she still had her eyes closed and her head ducked.

"What do you mean?" Patricia asked.

I glared over at Amber. "She told Mick about Sibuna."

"YOU DID _WHAT_?" Patricia screamed, and then stomped over to Amber. She placed her hands on her hips and didn't move her stance until Amber looked up at her.

Amber wiped her eyes clear of upcoming tears, and then regarded Patricia. "I told Mick about Sibuna," she confirmed. "I'm sorry. I just felt like I had to. I know I'm going to get a scolding, so go ahead and scold. I'm ready for it." She murmured.

"Oh, you are going to get the scolding of a lifetime!" Patricia yelled. "I think we agreed multiple times that we'd never tell a soul other than ours about the search! How could you do this to us? What if Fabian's right about bringing other people in? What if it causes danger? I thought Nina was your _friend_!"

Amber glared. "She's not my friend anymore!" she declared.

"Wait . . . what?" I asked. "Nina's one of your best friends and you _know_ it's vice versa. How could you go around just saying she's not your friend?"

"She _left_ us!" Amber exclaimed. "She left all of us! She _was_ a friend. Emphasis on the _was_. What kind of friend _leaves _us like that?"

Now Patricia was throwing glares. "Amber, are you that _ignorant_? Nina was abducted! Kidnapped! Taken! No one in a million years would want to be abducted! Trust me, I would know. While I was kidnapped, it was torture. I got small meals, and I was stuck in a tiny warehouse with nothing to do for three days. I was only gone for three days. Nina's been gone for three _weeks_."

Patricia took a deep breath. "I don't know how bad Nina's being treated, but I know it's bad." she looked up at me. "How bad is it, Fabian?" the look in her eyes told me she wanted to know, because she was curious and wanted to prove Amber wrong; but I knew that she didn't want to know. As tough as Patricia may seem, she can crack. In fact, I've never seen someone so alike to Patricia as Nina. Other than Patricia being a goth pixie, they're almost the same person.

"It's pretty bad," I said. "She gets abused," – I said, and then Amber gasped – "I can tell. She has a couple of bruises and scrapes, and I think we all know that the worst we've seen her do to herself is trip over her own feet on the way to school and cut open her knee on a piece of wood." – Amber giggled – "And I think she's underfed. She's lost a _ton_ of weight . . . you can tell as clear as day. Patricia, I know what you're thinking. 'Oh, I was such a bitch to her last year. She disappears, the same way I did, and her case is worse. I'm such a horrible person.' Well, it's not like Nina planned on getting kidnapped. I know you didn't either. It's not your fault, nor is it Nina's. We looked for you when you were missing, and now it's Nina's turn. We have to be in this together."

Patricia, of all people, wiped away a tear from her cheek. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore. If Nina's dead, what's the point of looking for her? I know she's my friend, but there's no way to deny fate, Fabian."

I groaned. "Not you, too! Mick thought Nina was dead, you think Nina's dead, and I _know_ Amber thinks she's dead, even though she isn't saying it." I bit my lip. "Amber, would you be so kind as to tell us why you're not friends with Nina anymore?"

"Because she left us!" she repeated. I gave her a look that said: _I know that's not the reason. Tell the truth. _She sighed. "Nina and I had a fight." she admitted.

"How could you fight with Nina?" Patricia looked completely bewildered. "She's not here. She's in the place that you drew."

A light went off in my head. "Guys, let's pause this conversation for a little while. I need to show you some things." I ran downstairs, past Mick, who was holding something behind his back; and into my room. I gathered an object and three pieces of paper. I stuffed them into my bag, shut my door tight, and started to walk upstairs again, but then I realized something; Alfie. He's been a part of Sibuna for longer than half a year, and we've been having a conversation without him. I felt kind of guilty about that.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and knocked on Alfie's door.

He finally answered a couple of seconds later. "Fabian?" he said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I assured him. "We're just . . . holding . . ." I looked over him to see if Jerome was in his room, and luckily, he wasn't. "We're holding a meeting . . . I guess. In a way, we are. But, come on. We don't want you missing out."

"Um, okay." he said, and then followed me upstairs.

We made our way toward the bathroom where Patricia and Amber were still standing. _Great place to hold a non-meeting_, I told myself. _In the girls' bathroom._

"Okay," I began. "I've got Alfie and the clues."

"The clues?" Patricia and Amber questioned, but Alfie didn't say anything. I had already shown him the clues on Thursday.

"Yeah. Here, I'll show them to you." I brought out Nina's locket, Amber's drawing, Nina's note and my list. "Nina's locket was our first clue. Amber and I found it near the edge of the woods when we went out to look for her on day two." I showed them my list of clues slash weird occurrences. The first one on the list was the one about the locket. "The locket's is some sort of signal, see – and we won't find out what it is unless Nina stops fighting. I'm not sure what kind of fight, though; against another person, herself, or maybe the place." I held out the sheet, and the 'signal' was the next written thing.

I handed Amber her drawing. I had kept it, not just because I felt the need to protect and preserve it, but because it was another clue. "Amber drew this, spot on spot about the place she's trapped in. It looks exactly like this, right down to the very last detail. According to Noma, she's trapped in that place, and it's her home." The next thing on the list.

I showed them the slip of paper from my fortune cookie. No one had seen it yet. "The other day, when we had Chinese takeout, I opened my fortune cookie, and this was my fortune. Before you ask, I don't know how she got it in there, if it's a prank, or if something else." I probably sounded rude, not letting them talk, but I knew Mick was growing impatient.

They all looked disappointed. "We'll talk about it later," I promised them.

I started to list everything weird I had seen since Nina went missing. It took a while, but the group sat there listening to me. For once, I actually felt like a leader.

I sighed and packed my things into my bag. "Those are the clues I gathered so far, and I'm sure they'll be plenty more. We all need to watch out for weird things, okay? . . . Even . . . even including Mick."

Patricia groaned. "We're actually initiating him? I thought you were joking!" she complained.

"It's not a good idea. I will admit that much," I confessed, "but Mick's my best friend. I've hated lying to him about the past year, and I think, maybe one person won't so much."

"You better be right," Alfie commented.

"I hope I am," I said. "Come on, everyone. We've got a trainee to initiate."

* * *

><p><em><strong>12:05 p.m.<strong>_

"Drop it into the fire?" Mick complained.

"Yes," Patricia explained. She wanted to initiate Mick into Sibuna, because Amber got to initiate Alfie. I didn't see a problem with it, so I let her. She seemed to be having fun with it, anyway.

"But this is my only picture of aunt and uncle," he said. "I don't want to lose them forever."

Amber looked saddened, as if she had been to their funeral. Mick's aunt and uncle had died in a house fire a couple of years ago.

"You won't." Patricia promised. "They'll always be with you in your heart. Besides, I'm sure your mum or dad has a picture."

Mick looked as if he might cry, but then he dumped the picture into the fire and watched it burn. I placed my hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, mate," I told him.

Patricia cleared her throat. Mick turned towards her. "Okay, Mick, now repeat after me: I, Michael Charles Campbell . . ." she paused.

Mick cringed. He didn't like his first name, so he always went by his nickname. "I, Michael Charles Campbell," he continued.

"Being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House . . ."

"Being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House . . ."

"And stand by my fellow club members: Patricia Grace Williamson, Fabian Thomas Rutter, Alfred Marmaduke Lewis, Amber Jaqueline Millington, and Nina Samantha Martin."

Mick nodded. "And stand by my fellow club members: Patricia Grace Williamson, Fabian Thomas Rutter, Alfred Marmaduke Lewis" – he chuckled a little when he said his name, which earned him a glare from little 'ol Marmaduke – "Amber Jaqueline Millington, and Nina Samantha Martin."

Patricia smiled and covered her right eye with her hand, and we followed her gesture. "Sibuna." We all said at the same time.

Mick followed, but he looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Welcome, Mick," I said, "to the crazy, mysterious, insane world of the real Anubis House."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Okay so I was a bit lazy writing this chapter . . . but more updates are coming soon! I must be butter because I'm on a roll!  
>Kudos to my friend for that quote. xD<br>Love ya'll! Have a sparkling day!  
>~Julianna, Julie, Jul, Anna, Juli, Banana, Boo, Smiley612 . . . I don't care what you call me. Just enjoy my horrid writing skills, please. :D<br>**


	16. In the Strangest Places

**A/N – Now is when you really have to pay attention to details; right now, and the rest of the chapters throughout the story. Pay attention to everything to characters do and say, because you'll need to take that into account if you want to understand anything. :D  
>I said I'll date every chapter, and the date is July 15th.<br>I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I don't own HOA . . . just the idea for this story.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>**_

"But I don't understand."

Nina was standing in front me. She had called me for a dream, and I'd been in "that place" for a couple of minutes now.

Nina sighed, a sigh of sadness, longing, and hopelessness. "I wish I could tell you. But I can't, or else bad things would happen. You need to figure it out on your own."

"But Amber–" I began, but Nina cut me off.

"–will have to cope for the time being." She laced her hand through mine. "I told you that I cannot tell you, but you will know when the time is right. I'll see you when I give you another dream."

The world started to spin like it did at the end of every dream, but I didn't want her to go anywhere just yet. "Wait!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, hoping that Nina would hear. The world continued to spiral out of control, but at the last minute, I was brought back to the "place", standing in front of the house's door.

"Yes?" Nina asked.

"Three days ago, in your dream–"

"It is _your _dream, Fabian. Not mine."

"In _my _dream, you said that you loved me. Was . . . was that true? Do . . . do you actually love me?"

Nina weakly giggled, and then she embraced me in a hug. "Of course, Fabian. I've always loved you. Now, you must go."

Before I could respond, the world started whirling.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sunday, October 30th, 2011 4:48 a.m.<strong>_

_She loves me._

That was the only thing I could process. _She loves me._

I knew it was nothing special. We were just two normal teenagers in love. But, still . . . _She loves me._

I smiled, in spite of what she had said, and as I came to the realization that the dreams are getting more recurrent. My first dream was on the 18th, the second on the 20th, third on the 26th, fourth on the 28th, and the fifth, the one I had today, on the 30th. I realized I should keep track of these dreams, so I tiptoed over to my rucksack, careful not to wake up Mick, and fished around for my notebook. I brought it over to my bed and turned on my phone, and then started to write down my entry:

_Sunday, October 30th, 2011 4:48 a.m.  
>Even though there was a small break in between the dreams, I think that there will be more. I've been getting "clues", I guess you could say: she's been telling me things about herself and the "place", the dreams, Sibuna, etc.<br>After we initiated Mick into Sibuna, Amber told us all about her argument with Nina. She was furious with her for multiple reasons, and even though I tried to rationalize with her, Amber wouldn't forgive Nina. When I received my dream, I told Nina about Amber's reasons for being mad, and she told me that Amber would have to figure it out herself. Then, I asked her about all of our powers, and she told me almost the same exact thing; that she couldn't tell us. Honestly, even that made ME a little mad, but I knew that if I argued with her that I wouldn't get anywhere and I'd be stuck in the same place(quite literally, also).  
><em>

After I finished the entry, I scowered my bag for a marker. I grabbed a yellow one(my favorite color), and closed the notebook that was originally supposed to be for the new History unit(Mr. Winker was still mad at me for not having a notebook). I wrote: FABIAN'S DREAM LOG in big capital letters across the cover.

As I looked it over, I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad feeling. I had a dream log!

But . . . I had a dream log . . .

* * *

><p><em><strong>11:30 a.m.<strong>_

Yesterday, Trudy had some things to do; she had to postpone Halloween shopping until today. Trudy took a taxi to her house earlier this morning to get her van, and then she drove back to Anubis. Around eleven, she arrived back, and we filed in the van.

Trudy was in the driver's seat, and Patricia called shotgun; none of us felt like arguing, so we let her. Behind the two seats were the two rows of three seats. In the first row sat Mick in the far left, Alfie in the middle, and Jerome on the far right. In the second row, I sat on the left; Amber sat in the middle and Mara on the right.

The sky was rimmed with grey storm clouds. It was lightly drizzling, and you could hear faint thunder in the distance. I chuckled to myself. _Pretty ironic, _I thought, _A storm on Halloween. _I put in my earphones and turned on my MP3 player on. I listened to music as we passed trees, pedestrians, more trees, buildings, even more trees, cars, and yet again, TREES. We were driving on the highway; the school was far away from any kind of civilization, sadly.

We were driving for another five minutes when we got off on an exit and we passed a cemetery. A cold chill made its way up my spine. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine something other than seeing Nina being lowered into the ground in a coffin. When I opened my eyes again, the car was speeding by, leaving the graveyard beyond sight.

"Maybe Nina did die," I muttered sadly. I knew I shouldn't think about that; it would only make my more upset. But I couldn't help but think of it. The clues all lined up.

"She's dead?" said a voice next to me. I jumped and turned around to face Mick. I originally thought Amber was sitting next to me, so I was completely bewildered when I saw him sitting there. The only thing similar about them was their blond hair.

Mick was still a little uncomfortable with us. He didn't some to our Sibuna meeting after we initiated him yesterday. He didn't talk to me that night as we got ready to go to sleep. His expression was shocked; and that kind of confused me. Only Sibuna and I discussed that Nina's not dead. Mick, Mara and Jerome were supposed to believe that she passed away on the 22nd. His expression showed almost that she was alive and with us the whole time.

"I don't know," I murmured, not meeting his gaze.

"What are you hiding from me?" his eyes were pleading. "I'm a member of . . . uh . . . Sibuna now, remember? Yesterday, you, uh . . . initiated me."

"Yes, I know we did." I whispered. I didn't want anyone else to hear this. Mara had her earphones in; I didn't care if Amber and Alfie heard this, considering they were in Sibuna; and Jerome was staring out his window. I had to be careful around him. He'd probably be pissed to no lengths if he found out we initiated Mick before him. "But there's a lot we haven't told you. It's a lot to take in in one day; so we decided that we'd take it one day ar a time with you. I promise that you'll see it all in the end."

Mick looked away into the front window, almost looking as if he would cry.

* * *

><p><em><strong>12:23 p.m.<strong>_

We arrived at the store almost an hour later. Mick continued to ignore me, as he had the rest of the car ride.

The automatic doors flung open and all of us stepped inside. Trudy handed us a list. "Alright, everyone! Patricia and I made a list of all the things we need–" she handed us the lists. "–so get looking. This store is huge, so pair up!"

I watched Alfie rush over to Amber and Mick, desperate to avoid me, rush over to Mara. Patricia came over to me, and Jerome, having no one left, decided to pair up with Trudy.

I didn't want to argue with Patricia about her choice of a partner, so she and I decided to scan the list together. "We're shopping for candy, so the candy aisle would be . . ." We spent a couple of seconds checking out the contents of the aisles, but then Amber tapped Patricia's shoulder. "The candy aisle would be in aisle twenty-one." She told us.

Patricia and I jogged down the hallway until we came to aisle 21. "Huh," I said, awestruck. "Amber was right."

"How did she _know_ that?" Patricia asked, completely flabbergasted. **(A/N – I LOVE that word. :p )**

"I don't know," I said, "but we'll discuss it later. Come on, we've got sweet shopping to do."

* * *

><p><em><strong>12:41 p.m.<strong>_

"Lollies**(A/N – I believe that's what they call lollipops in England . . . forgive me if I'm wrong, ;x)**. . . check. Biscuits . . . check. Chocolate . . . check. Anything else Trudy wanted us to buy . . . check, check, check, and check. Oh, Fabian, put that back. No one likes that sweet."

I stared at Patricia like she had just kicked me in the stomach. "Patricia! That's my favorite sweet!"

"Well, no one wants it except you. Just put it back." she grabbed it out of the cart and put it back on the shelf.

I grabbed it back and put it back in the cart. "Uh, even if people _don't _want it, than that's better. I'll eat it all."

"Fabian. We are _not_ getting it."

"Patricia. We _are_ getting it."

"No we're not."

"Yes we are."

"No we're not."

"Yes we are."

"No we're not!"

"Yes we are!"

"Aw . . . look at the two lovebirds fighting."

"WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!"

Jerome waltzed up to us, a smirk on his face. "D'aw. You two make a cute couple."

I glared at him. "Jerome, I have a _girlfriend_."

"Yeah, a dead one."

Right at that moment, I wanted to spring forward, grab onto Jerome and wring his neck. Even though Nina wasn't really dead, it still hurt like hell when someone mentioned her "passing".

"Jerome, take. That. Back." I growled at him.

"Aww . . . poor Fabes won't let go of his old girlfriend. How cute."

He chucked, and then walked away.

I sighed, and sat down cross-legged on the floor. I buried my face in my hands.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I presumed it was Patricia, but when I looked up, it was Nina. I quickly scrambled up from my spot on the floor, and faced her. The last time I saw her that wasn't a dream, was when I saw her at the edge of the woods last Tuesday. Today, she still wasn't wearing her beautiful white gown that she wears in my dreams; she wore the exact same outfit she wore the day she went missing, as she had the last time I saw her out of a dream. Her hand was broken that day . . .

"I –is your hand still broken?" I asked her, fumbling over my words. She laughed weakly.

"That's the first question you ask? No, it's not broken anymore."

"What? How? If the bone was broken badly . . .?"

"Long story. I'll explain later; I promise. But for now . . ." She embraced me in a hug, holding me close, breathing in my scent, as if she hadn't seen me in years, or if she'd never see me again. "Don't worry about Jerome. He's just being obnoxious. I'm not dead. I'm still alive, flesh and bones. And I'll be back soon. But for now, just remember this: you can feel my presence, that's why you guys can do that."

She squeezed me tighter in her hug, and then she let go. She smiled at me, and then I watched her shimmer into nothingness.

"Do what?" I whispered, barely audible.

"Hmm?" Patricia asked, coming over a couple of shelves away.

I knew I should be scared or amazed; Patricia can hear things that the normal human ear can't. But I wasn't scared or amazed. I was kind of used to it by now. And those weird things . . . oh, shoot.

"Maybe that's what she meant," I muttered to myself.

"That's what who meant what?" Patricia asked.

I was speaking quietly, but Patricia could still hear me. A bell hypothetically rung in my head. I knew what I had to do.

I whispered, "Nina."

Patricia's eyes bulged out of her head. "What? Nina? How? What? Nina? What happened?" she said it as if I had spoken in a normal tone of voice and hadn't whispered it.

"Nina was here. She told me to ignore Jerome and to keep looking for her." I continued to whisper.

"She was _here_?" Patricia's voice was completely amazed, but sincere. I could tell she honestly _hadn't _seen Nina.

"Yeah, you didn't see her?" I said.

Patricia shook her head, and I could see a hint of something in her eyes: sadness, worry, jealousy, and longing.

"That's . . . that's weird." I said, in a normal tone of voice, without whispering this time. I was testing something else.

Patricia groaned, winced, and then covered her ears. "Ugh!" she yelled. "Stop bloody screaming, Fabian!" I chucked under my breath. Patricia commented, "what's so funny?" in a snarky tone of voice, but I ignored her.

In only a matter of seconds, I had figured out what Nina had meant. "My presence is here, that's why you can do that," she had said.

Nina was here. Or at least, her presence was. Her presence gives us the ability to do things that no normal human being can do. My eyes grew to the size of tennis balls as I recalled something from last Tuesday, the last time I saw her presence.

"_You're all special. Gifted." _

And that's what she had meant. We were gifted. And I wasn't seeing her ghost on Tuesday . . . I was seeing her presence.

"You're right, Patricia," I told her. "Nobody likes this candy anyways. But we're still getting it.

"No we're not!"

"Yes we ARE!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mara<br>Sunday, October 30th, 2011 12:36 p.m.**_

Something weird was happening in Mick's life.

I could tell. He was uncomfortable around me, and when he talked, he thought about his words carefully, like he didn't want to say the wrong thing.

Last year, I thought we cleared up the fact that there wouldn't be any secrets between us. We both agreed; but right now, Mick was keeping a _huge_ one.

"Alright . . . napkins." Mick said as we walked down the aisles, looking for the one with table supplies. We stopped at aisle sixteen, and I saw the sign one aisle over: _napkins, utensils, plates, juice . . ._

I turned to look at Mick, but he was gone. He wasn't where he was standing, and he couldn't have gone all the way over there in two seconds. I walked over to the aisle seventeen just to check, and my heart stopped for a second. Mick was all the way at the end of aisle.

Now I _knew _something weird was going on. Mick couldn't just jump to wherever he wanted to go . . . could he?

I jogged over to Mick, where he was putting a couple containers of napkins into our basket. I shook my head, grabbed the napkins out, and put them back on the shelf. "No, Mick. These napkins aren't as absorbent as these," I said, grabbing another parcel of napkins.

"What? How would you know that?" I shrugged. "Whatever. Trudy wanted orange, purple, and green napkins, and these ones have all three."

"Well, they're useless! If Alfie spills something, which I'm sure he'll do at least once in the night, they won't pick up anything. Use these. They're super absorbent."

"How come you just seem to know _everything_?" Mick said, obviously annoyed. "It doesn't say "'super absorbent', or 'not absorbent' on the parcel!"

"Why are you keeping _secrets_ from me? I thought we agreed: _no more secrets!_"

"I'm sorry, Mara," he said. "But I have to keep this one. It's safer for everyone."

"How? Mick, you're my boyfriend! We're supposed to share secrets! Come on, I don't like keep secrets. Please tell me," I begged.

Mick turned away. I could tell he was thinking about his words again. "I can't," he finally said.

"Why? If you can't tell me . . . maybe we should break up . . ."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to keep secrets!" I exclaimed. "And by the looks of it, you're keeping a huge one. Just tell me!"

"Maybe we should," Mick said, which broke my heart. I was just saying that so he'd tell me, but it was backfiring. He was serious about it. "I can't tell you. And if you don't respect that, maybe we should break up."

I felt a tear cascade down my cheek. "Yeah. May – maybe we should."

"Fine then. It's done."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Alfie<br>Sunday, October 30th, 2011 12:53 p.m.**_

"Streamers . . ."

"Aisle seven."

"Paper decorations . . ."

"Aisle eleven."

"Other random things . . ."

"Aisle seven, eight, and thirteen."

I looked at Amber. We were by the fruit, because we had a couple extra dollars and Amber said she wanted an apple. I was kind of hungry also, so I decided to go with her. We were looking over our list, and Amber kept naming the aisles without looking. I wasn't surprised anymore, especially after she had drawn the place Fabian mentioned, but it still freaked me out.

We walked over to aisle seven and Amber picked out some streamers that she liked and placed them in our basket.

"Sorry, Amber. We can't get these."

"What? Why not? They're pretty, with Halloween colors! They'll be perfect! We'll totally win the contest!" she said.

"They'll fall apart in ten minutes. They're not made sturdy. We should get some like . . ." I found one that was sturdy. "This one."

"How do you know it's sturdy? It doesn't sound anything like that."

Mara came waltzing over. I could see tears staining her cheeks. "God, Amber. You sound like Mick. And please, please don't mention him."

"Why?" Amber asked.

Mara sighed, and wiped her eyes. "We broke up a couple of minutes ago."

"Awww!" Amber said, and then she wrapped Mara in a hug. "It's okay. He wasn't worth it anyway." Mara laughed. "If you want, you can stay in my room tonight. Just like old times!"

Mara blinked. "I thought you didn't like it in there anymore, because Nina's missing–"

Amber glared. "Don't mention her," she said in a tight voice.

"Um . . . okay."

"But I don't care anymore. Nina's dead, anyway. How about you be my new roomie!" Amber said excitedly!"

"I don't know, Amber," Mara said, "than Patricia would be alone. But I will stay in your room tonight." She smiled.

"Yay! I can already see what we're going to do. We can stay up all night, talk about cute boys, gossip . . ." I watched Amber walk off with her arm around Mara.

I still had no idea why Amber was mad at Nina. I felt like she was betraying her by saying that she was dead. I didn't know anything, but I did know one thing; I knew things. More than I was supposed to. I was a C- student, and suddenly I just knew whatever I wanted to know.

And this all happened in a department store.

* * *

><p><strong>AN – YES IT IS A VERY SUCKISH AND BORING CHAPTER. But chapter 17 and 18 shall be amazing.  
>Have a sparkling day. :)<br>~Julianna**


	17. Ready or Not, Here I Come

**A/N - I hope you enjoy this Halloween-y chapter. :)  
><strong>**The date is July 15th.  
>I don't own HOA, just the ideas for this story. :)<br>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>Monday, October 31st, 2011 7:36 a.m.**_

"AHHHHHHH!"

Everyone jumped out of their seats at the dining table and ran upstairs. The stairs was a crowded mess of people as we all ran up. We came to see Amber in the girls loo, breathing heavily, staring at the toilet. I walked up to it, only to see a fake rat floating in the dirty water.

I glared at Jerome and Alfie. They high-fived and I heard Jerome mutter, "First prank of the day!"

"Seriously, Jerome?" Amber yelled. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Than it worked!" he chuckled.

Amber glared at Alfie, and he came over and put his arm around her. "Aw, come on, Ambs. It's Halloween, the scariest day of the year. Lighten up a little bit!"

Amber sighed. "If you pull anything like that again, I'm going to get you."

Jerome chuckled under his breath and walked downstairs. We all followed him, and sat back down at the table and continued to eat breakfast.

I didn't have a dream last night, but this morning, I realized something. I was planning to tell Sibuna when I heard a scream, and it turned out to be Amber.

I was contemplating telling Mick. He didn't seem as into Sibuna as the rest of us. I couldn't exactly blame him, though. Amber, Patricia, Alfie, Nina and I had been in Sibuna for a year now. After the search for the Cup of Ankh, we were used to weird things happening, but it was new for Mick.

I continued poking my toast with my fork and shoving it into my mouth until Trudy told us to clean up our plates and get moving. Patricia complained that she didn't want to go to school today, because it was Halloween, but Trudy quite literally pushed her out the door.

We were on our way to school. I told the others that we were holding a Sibuna meeting on the way, which I admit was kind of stupid, but it would be the only time we'd have to talk today. Mara walked fast, jogging in front of us. I wasn't sure what was going on, but she seemed to want to get as far away from us as possible.

Alfie told me he'd stall Jerome, so he wouldn't catch up to us. Honestly, I felt kind of bad for Alfie; he couldn't tell his best friend about Sibuna. Of course, he already knew about it, but it was safer if he wasn't involved.

Trust me; it wasn't my idea to initiate Mick into Sibuna. It had to be Amber's, because she was the one that told him about it in the first place. I was still mad at her about that.

Alfie eventually caught up with us. "Okay, Jerome should be a couple of minutes late to school, but he won't catch up to us."

"Okay. Thanks, Alfie." I turned to face everyone as we walked toward the school. "I didn't have a dream last night, but I did realize something."

"What did you realize?" Mick asked. I guessed he was trying to get involved, but I knew he had no clue what I was talking about.

"The dreams happen every other day. Number one happened on October eighteenth, number two happened on October twentieth, and then there was a small break. Number three was on the twenty-sixth, the fourth on the twenty-eighth, fifth on the thirtieth, so number six will be on November first, which is tomorrow."

"Are you ready for another dream?" Patricia asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded and then smiled. "I have a couple of questions to ask her."

Mick looked down at his feet as he walked for a couple of seconds, but then he looked up. "Wait, so Nina's not dead?"

My shoulders slumped. I hated thinking about that, but I had to tell Mick. "Yes. The call we received on the twenty-second was fake. Jason called the police to report Nina's disappearance, but they never even looked for her. By the way, we don't trust the police."

"We don't?" Mick looked even more confused then when he was initiated. "Why?"

"It's a long story. Patricia will be able to tell you the whole story if you're interested."

Patricia smiled at him. "I'll give you _all_ the details." Mick nodded in approval.

"You seem so in control, Fabian," Alfie commented. "Last year, you were always a pushover and never bothered to speak up. Nina used to do that. But now you're giving off the impression that you're in charge."

I sighed and looked down at the ground. I didn't want to tell any of them about seeing and hearing Nina's presence, but I knew I couldn't tell them lies. I trusted them with my life, so it only seemed fair. "Guys, I have something to tell you."

I told them about the first time I saw her, out by the woods, and yesterday, when I saw her in a department store. "Why didn't you tell us about this?" Amber asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "The first time I saw her, it was early on. I was still getting the hang of all this. But now that I'm used to it, I'm better with it all. I'm comfortable telling you now."

"Do you think it means something?" Mick asked.

"I know something," I told him. "I know that when Nina's presence is near us, our powers are stronger."

"Wait, hold up – we have powers?" Alfie asked.

"That's what Nina told me."

"What kind of powers?"

"Well, for example," I said, "Patricia, your sense of hearing is sharpened."

"Really?" Patricia asked, shocked and amazed at the same time. "Is that good or bad?"

"Both. Remember a couple of days ago, when you went blind, and Amber went deaf?" she nodded. "Before I called you in, you were having trouble grabbing the fruit out of the bowl. Your sense of sight has worsened; but your hearing has improved. Amber, it's the opposite for you. Your sight has improved, but your hearing has worsened."

"How do you know this?" Amber asked me. "And if my hearing has gotten worse, how come I can hear fine now?"

"Because Nina's presence isn't with us right now. When it is with us, Patricia, Amber . . . be prepared. You'll probably lose your senses again."

"I don't want to go blind again," Patricia complained.

"We have to do the same thing we did last time," Amber explained.

"You mean . . . grab onto each others hands and repeat a chant? How do you know?"

Amber sighed and lowered her gaze. "When I left your Sibuna meeting on Friday, Nina and I got into a fight. We argued for about ten minutes, and during that ten minutes, one of the things she told me was that we needed to grab onto each other and do it again. And, that's why I told Mick about Sibuna. I was furious with Nina, and I wanted to make her mad, so I let another person in on our secret. I'm sorry, guys."

"It's okay, Amber. Everything's good. Do you remember the chant at all?"

"Not a word of it," Amber and Patricia said at the same time.

I sighed. "I guess we'll figure it out when we feel her presence again. Come on, guys. We're going to be late for school."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Third Person POV<strong>_

After a long day of teaching and a lot of talk about Halloween, the school day was finally over. Jason watched his eighth period class run out into the hallway. He assumed they were all excited about the rest of the day.

Jason looked up from the papers he was grading and saw Fabian Rutter trying to untangle his rucksack from the table leg. He was the only one left in the classroom. Jason considering helping him, but as soon as he got out of his seat, Fabian untangled the strap and was out the door in a matter of seconds. Jason saw something fall out of his rucksack as he jogged out the door.

He walked over and picked up the thing that had fallen. It was a sheet of paper. There was an amazingly drawn picture on one side, and on the other were a couple of sentences that Jason presumed was a conversation between two of the students.

Jason's eyes widened. He stuffed the picture in his pocket, neatened his papers, and started to walk out of the classroom. He started right, heading to Eric's office. He knocked on the hard wood.

"Come," Jason heard Eric say from behind the door. He walked in the door and Eric looked up from his computer. "Yes, Jason? How may I help you?"

He placed the sheet of paper on his desk. "Oh," Eric muttered. "They have found it."

"You know what we must do, Eric!" Jason snapped. "It is the only way to keep it safe."

Eric looked worried. "Must we do it?"

Jason nodded. "They know what it looks like. They're getting closer, and it's only been a mere three weeks! You must do it."

Eric sighed, and picked up the phone. He dialed a number that he memorized, Jason could tell. He put the phone to his ear and they waited a few seconds. "Elizabeth? It's Eric. It is time." There were a few moments of silence. "Four days, maximum. Yes. Thank you." He hung up.

"You know I don't like doing this." Eric told Jason.

"It has to be done. Look at the conversation on the back." He flipped the paper over.

_I can't hear you  
>Amber, can you hear me?<br>No. Can Patricia hear?  
>Yes, but she can't see. It seems like you've gone deaf all of a sudden, and Patricia has gone blind.<br>Fabian, get Patricia!  
>What? Why?<br>Because! It's a long story! I know what to do now! Just get Patricia over near me! And tell her to hold both of my hands!  
>Okay, Amber. Tell me what to do so I can tell Patricia.<br>Tell Patricia to grab both of my hands. I know she'll probably oppose, but make sure she does it. It's the only way. Apparently, we'll have to say something, but once we hold on to each other, we'll know what it is. I don't understand this at all, but I know it's right. I'll explain later.  
>Amber, do you know what to say?<br>_

"They've gotten their powers already," Eric commented. "You'll need to do something."

"You know I won't be full in power until Elizabeth sends it over."

"I know, but it won't be here for a couple of days. You'll need to cope with what you have. Make sure nothing escapes." Eric told Jason.

Jason nodded, closed the door to the headmaster's office, and ran out of the school and into the woods. He opened two doors, and then he was in "that place", as the Anubis children called it. He was early, so he opened the door to find the girl sitting by the lake.

The girl stood up, her white dress flowing in the wind. "What are you doing here?"

Jason fumed, ran over and shoved her into the lake. He was letting his anger out. He watched the girl swim aimlessly under the water, and then a couple of seconds later, she appeared at the edge of the water. "What the hell?" she yelled.

Jason couldn't take it anymore. He was uncomfortable in his own skin. He needed Elizabeth's present to be who he really was, at full power.

Jason closed his eyes, letting it all out. He focused on his inner self, and in a couple of seconds, he was in his normal skin.

The girl stared at him "I don't know you," she whispered. "Who are you?"

Jason smiled. His skin was a glowing, bright red, and his eyes were a shimmering crimson. His hair was supposed to be blond, and his eyes were supposed to be hazel, but today he was all red.

And he had never been happier.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fabian<br>1:41 p.m.**_

"Wait! Guys! Wait!" I jogged over to them. I had finally caught up. "Did you guys even hear me call?"

"No," Patricia said.

We weren't all together this time. Mara was ahead of us, probably in the House already. Jerome and Alfie were nowhere to be seen. It was only me, Amber, Patricia and Mick. We started to talk about what we would do for the rest of today. When we were three meters away from the steps to the House . . .

"BOO!" Somebody screamed.

Patricia, Mick, Amber and I all screamed at the top of our lungs. We held on to each other for dear life.

A figure came out of the scarecrow in front of the House. He was laughing hysterically, clapping his hands. "Ah, that was priceless!" Jerome said. "You should've seen your faces!"

Jerome was dressed like the scarecrow in _The Wizard of Oz. _He had pieces of loose straw in his hair, and had farmer clothing.

"Not funny, Slimeball," Patricia growled.

"Oh, but it was." Jerome chuckled. He had tears of mirth running down his face. "That was amazing."

Patricia rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys. Let's go inside and get away from these freaks."

We all started to go inside, when we heard another, "BOO!"

"AHHHHHH!" we screamed again. Alfie jumped out of a pile of leaves by the side of the House. There were stray leaves in all of our hair.

Alfie was laughing along with Jerome, and went over to high-five him again. They were laughing so hard that I knew they'd get a cramp. "Ah, Alfie. Second and third prank of the night, achieved."

"Ugh! Alfie!" Amber screeched. "There are leaves in my hair! Ew!"

"Sorry, Ambs. It won't happen again." Alfie wiped some tears of mirth away from his cheeks.

"Yeah, it better not," Amber grumbled, and then she walked in. "WOW!"

We walked in, and then we all copied Amber; "Wow."

Trudy came in the room, smiling. "Is it good?"

"Trudy, this is amazing!" Patricia exclaimed. Trudy smiled even brighter, which made _me_ smile. Trudy was practically my mother. I see her ten months a year, after all.

"Oh, I'm so glad you like it! Do you think Anubis House will win the contest?"

"For sure." We all agreed.

The House was decorated with streamers, paper decorations, and colorful banners. There were tons of sweets on the table in the common room, which obviously attracted Mick's attention. He started for the bowl, but Trudy slapped his hand. "That's for the kiddies. If there's any left it's all yours."

Mick balled his hands into fists and stuck them in the air, and brought them down, muttering, "Yes."

Mara jogged down the stairs. "Trudy, can we watch a scary movie?" she asked.

"Sorry, love, no can do. It's a school night."

We all groaned. "Trudy, it's Halloween!" Alfie complained. "The scariest night of the year!" he waggled his fingers. "Can we at least stay up until midnight?"

Trudy sighed. "Fine. But you all have to promise that's the latest you'll stay up."

We all held up our hands. "We promise," we all said.

"Alright, then. Amber, dear, would you help me bring the rest of the candy into the common room, please?"

"Sure!" Amber skipped into the kitchen and brought out two bowls into the common room. Mara brought her movie into the room and put it into the DVD player. She paused the tape, and told us we'd watch it at ten p.m., because it was two hours long.

Trudy gave us our shifts. Trick or Treating would begin at two, and end at eight. Mr. Sweet would come at nine-thirty to check out the House and judge it. Jerome had first shift at two, Mick had second shift at three, Patricia had third at four, Amber had fourth at five, I had fifth at six, Alfie had sixth at seven, and Mara had seventh at eight. Trudy told us we could go Trick or Treating at nine if we wanted to.

Trick or Treating didn't start well. Trudy wasn't smart for giving Jerome first shift, because he kept scaring the little kids, and giving them office supplies instead of sweets. Trudy interrupted him, apologizing to the little kids, and yelling at Jerome. The rest of the shifts were kind of slow. I guessed the kids told their friends not to come to Anubis.

When the shifts were over, Jerome, Alfie, Patricia, Mick and Mara decided to go Trick or Treating. I was guessing Mick and Mara broke up from the way they avoided each other. Amber and I were the only ones left in the House. Mr. Sweet came in about half an hour later. We didn't win the contest; Osiris House did. Mr. Sweet did enjoy the decorations though.

After Mr. Sweet left, Trudy fell asleep on the couch closest to the dining table. We knew that she must be tired from decorating all day, so Amber and I left her.

Since we were alone, Amber and I decided to talk about the dreams, and this quest. We talked for twenty minutes, and then the rest of the gang came in with pillow cases full of sweets.

They ate their candy for a couple of minutes. Alfie shared his collection with Amber, and Patricia shared hers with me. We were content, sitting in Anubis House in the chilly October weather, eating our Halloween sweets. That is, until Amber gasped.

"I know what we can do!" she said.

"What?" Mara asked her, comfortably eating her sweets on the left side of the couch.

"Truth or–"

"NO!" We all screamed. Amber had an obsession with that game. We played it at least three times every two weeks.

Amber pouted. "Come on! It'll be fun. Especially because it's Halloween, we can ask the scariest questions." she smiled.

"No," Patricia stood her ground. "Every time we play it, you always tell me to do something embarrassing. And I don't feel like doing that today; I'm sure none of us do."

"Yeah," we all agreed.

"Please! Just one round! I promise! Just one, and then we'll stop."

I sighed. "If you're only doing one round . . ." I just wanted her to shut up.

"Just one! I swear!"

**(A/N - Okay, there's only four questions, and they involve the plot. *hides behind imaginary boyfriend* Don't kill me!)**

"Fine. I'll play." I sat down next to Amber, and Patricia sat next to me. Alfie sat down on the opposite side, and eventually, everyone was seated.

"Great!" Amber cheered. "Okay, let's shut the lights off." Amber got up off the floor and jogged to the light switch. She grabbed a torch from the table and sat down in her spot again. She flipped the switch on the torch and a small yellow light filled the circle.

"Welcome, everyone," she said. "Who should we start with?" She spun the bottle around in a circle, and it landed on Mara. Amber smiled. "Okay, Mara. Truth or dare?"

Mara said, "Truth" almost instantly. I knew she didn't like taking dares; she never liked embarrassing herself.

"Did you and Mick break up?" Amber asked her.

Mara glared at her, and I realized Amber already knew the answer. Mara then looked down, and then met Mick's gaze. She turned back to Amber. "Yes, we did."

There were a lot of "Really?"'s, "Wow!"'s, and "Aw!"'s, but Mara and Mick continued to stare down. This only confirmed my suspicion.

"Okay, let's get on with it." Mara spun the bottle around, and it landed on Alfie. "Truth or dare?" she asked him.

Alfie was bobbing his head as he said, "Dare."

Mara licked her teeth. "I dare you to go outside to the nearest House and dance like an idiot in front of their window."

Alfie looked at Jerome, who was chuckling under his breath. Jerome gave him thumbs up. "Come on, Alfie," Mara smirked, "It's Halloween" – Mara waggled her fingers, mimicking him – "You can't turn down a dare."

Alfie groaned, and then got out of his seat. He made his way outside and we followed him. He stood outside the window of Nekhbet House, the closest to Anubis – and then he started to dance. He was moving his arms and legs wildly, and eventually, people inside the House starting pointing and laughing. I could tell from Alfie's expression that he was embarrassed.

He continued to dance for two more minutes, until the people in Nekhbet House were literally rolling on the floor laughing, and then made his way over to us. "Are you happy, Mara?"

She wiped tears of mirth off her face. "Yes, I am very happy."

Alfie rolled his eyes, and Amber grabbed his hand and led him inside. We sat down down again, and we continued playing for about another half an hour. There were some crazy dares, and some people admitted things they shouldn't. We all completely forgot about Amber's promise for one round. We were probably on round three. The last question asked really got me thinking.

The bottle landed on Mara. "Okay, Mara," Patricia said. "Truth or dare?"

Like always, Mara answered, "Truth."

Patricia asked, "What was the last promise you made?"

I could see Mara's eyes widen. "Um . . . actually, the last promise I made was to Nina," she admitted.

"What?" I yelled. I got up off of the floor and sat behind her. "What was the promise?" My heart was already beating a thousand miles an hour. What did Nina make her promise?

"It was stupid, really. She made me promise that I'd always see the beauty in everything, that I must always try in school. I didn't understand, but she said that I'd be safer, or something . . ."

"That's one more question I have to ask her," I muttered.

"What?" Mara asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said almost immediately. I quickly walked over to my spot and sat down. "Okay, guys, if we wanna watch that movie, than we should only do one more." Everyone nodded.

The lights were still off, the only light illuminating from Amber's torch. I told her to shut it off, and she did. "Okay, I'm going to walk around our circle one time, and then touch two random people's heads," I said. "Those two people will have to go in the closet and stay in there for ten minutes." No one argued. I started to walk around the circle, and on my second time, I touched two people's heads. They got off from their spots and started to walk to the closet.

Everyone sat in silence for ten minutes. None of us knew who it was. After my watch went off, I could feel everyone sit up and walk to the closet. When we opened it, I couldn't believe my eyes, but yet, I kind of did.

The two people in there were Mara and Jerome.

And they were kissing.

* * *

><p><em><strong>9:55 p.m.<strong>_

After the fiasco about the two kissing kids in the closet, we decided to watch the movie.

Mick was furious. He sat as far away from Mara as he could get, but Mara and Jerome were sitting together. Mara was asleep on Jerome's shoulder, and he looked a little uncomfortable, watching the movie. The rest of us were just scattered on the floor.

We knew we had only five more minutes to watch the film, or else Trudy would be furious with us. Mara and Trudy were the only two people asleep.

There was only one minute left in the film, but suddenly all power went out in Anubis House. The telly shut off, the lights were out, and no appliances were working.

"AHHHHHHH!" I heard screams coming from multiple people. My heart was pounding as I realized something.

I was the leader now. Nina was gone. Sibuna was my responsibility.

"Okay, everyone, calm down!" I yelled throughout the screams. "It's just the thunderstorm! It made the power go out! It'll come back! Just be careful and don't step on anything! Hold on to somebody!"

I waited a couple of seconds, breathing heavily. "ROLE COLE!" I yelled. "MICK!"

"HERE!"

"MARA!"

"SHE'S SLEEPING!" I heard somebody yell.

"JEROME!"

"HERE!"

"ALFIE!"

"HERE!"

"NIN – AMBER!"

"HERE!"

"PATRICIA!"

"HERE!"

"EVERYONE'S HERE! IT'S SAFE! JUST CALM DOWN!"

And then suddenly the power came back on.

"AHHHHHH!" multiple screams came.

"It's alright!" I said. "The power's back on. It was just the storm. It's alright."

None of them were listening to me. I was about to ask what was wrong when I noticed they were all staring at something. I turned and my heart missed a beat.

There was a message on the wall written in blood. It was scawled all over the wall, going all around the House. And this time, it said:

MISS ME? I'M BACK, BITCHES, AND THIS TIME STRONGER THAN EVER. OH, AND PATRICIA, SWEETIE, YOU'RE RIGHT. YOU CAN'T TURN DOWN A DARE; SO I'M GIVING YOU ALL ONE, BUT THIS TIME IT'S LIFE OR DEATH. I DARE YOU TO LEAVE YOUR PRECIOUS FRIEND ALONE. I HAVE HER IN MY CLUTCHES TONIGHT, AND I ALSO HAVE A KNIFE, AND I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SKIN AND BLADE COLLIDE. I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT A SECOND TIME. TONIGHT, YOU ALL BETTER DO WHAT I SAY, OR YOU AND THE GIRL GOES. TONIGHT, YOU ARE ALL MY PAWNS, AND I AM THE GAME MASTER. GAME ON, BITCHES, BECAUSE READY OR NOT, HERE I COME.

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Okay you all must be confused. Mr. Winkler isn't the man, it's someone else, but you'll find out who it is soon enough. "The Man In Red" wrote the message. If you want more details, PM me. :)  
>Have a sparkling day. :)<br>~Julianna**


	18. Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

**A/N - Okay I'm excited to write this chapter. It is going to be so fun. xD  
>The date is July 15th.<br>I don't own HOA. Just the plot line for this story. :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Monday, October 31st, 2011 10:02 p.m.**

I was shaking like a leaf as I read the message on the wall:

MISS ME? I'M BACK, BITCHES, AND THIS TIME STRONGER THAN EVER. OH, AND PATRICIA, SWEETIE, YOU'RE RIGHT. YOU CAN'T TURN DOWN A DARE; SO I'M GIVING YOU ALL ONE, BUT THIS TIME IT'S LIFE OR DEATH. I DARE YOU TO LEAVE YOUR PRECIOUS FRIEND ALONE. I HAVE HER IN MY CLUTCHES TONIGHT, AND I ALSO HAVE A KNIFE, AND I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SKIN AND BLADE COLLIDE. I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT A SECOND TIME. TONIGHT, YOU ALL BETTER DO WHAT I SAY, OR YOU AND THE GIRL GO. TONIGHT, YOU ARE ALL MY PAWNS, AND I AM THE GAME MASTER. GAME ON, BITCHES; BECAUSE READY OR NOT, HERE I COME.

The message stopped near Jerome and Alfie's door. It curled all around the House and ended here. My heart was beating out of my chest as I tried to process what the message said. The man was coming . . . he was here.

I looked over at everyone else. Amber was hugging Alfie's waist, her head buried in his shoulder, but she looked too numb to cry. Alfie almost the same; he was too numb to move. Patricia looked completely and utterly pissed. Mick was trying to stay calm, but I could see he was scared. Jerome's expression gave nothing away.

I turned to face him and Alfie. "Jerome," I growled. "Is this one of your stupid pranks?"

Jerome shook his head fiercely, and suddenly I could see the fear in his eyes. "No. I swear on . . . everything. We did not do this."

I closed my eyes, trying to think of who would do this.

"He's coming, isn't he, Fabian?" Patricia asked, her voice faltering. I weakly nodded. Patricia squeaked and slid down the wall and on to the floor.

I shouldn't have been the leader. Nina was much more of a leader than me. She knew what to do in situations like these. And now, I'm faced with that situation, and I had completely no idea what to do.

"Nina?" I called. I tried calling her name to see if she would answer, but I didn't get a response. "Nina?" still no answer. "NINA!"

"Fabian, what are you doing?" Mick asked me.

"She's not answering." I concluded. Mick still looked confused, but now wasn't the time to answer his questions; we could die tonight! "We're on our own."

"Fabian, what's going on?" Jerome asked, and this time I could see the fear in his eyes.

I ignored him, and two seconds later, the power shut off again. "AHHHHH!" the girls cried.

"It's okay!" I yelled. "Just hold on to someone. Everything will be alright." I tried to comfort them, but I knew I wasn't doing a good job. I was horrible at being the leader.

Someone grabbed my hand and laced my fingers through hers. I figured it was Patricia; Amber had Alfie and Jerome and Mick wouldn't hold my hand. I could tell Patricia was terrified, and this time, I wasn't surprised. Even Jerome was afraid.

"Okay, everyone," I said. "Hold on to your partner and follow my voice." I waited a couple of seconds, and eventually, I felt everyone's presence around me, even though I couldn't see two inches in front of me. Everything was pitch black. "Amber and Alfie?" I asked. They called, "Here."

"Jerome?"

"Here."

"Mick?"

"Here."

"Okay, we're going to go to the common room. Patricia, are you the one holding my hand?"

"Yes," she answered, and didn't remove her hand. In honesty, I didn't want her to. I was just as terrified as the others.

"Patricia, go behind me and hold my shoulder." she did as she was told. "Amber, Jerome, and Alfie, do the same thing." I waited a couple of seconds. "Are we all set?" I called.

I heard multiple "Yes"'s from the group. I closed my eyes for a second, but when I opened my eyes again, everything was still pitch black. "We're going to the common room now and I'm going to move. The man could be anywhere, so please watch out. I couldn't take it if any of you got hurt."

I took my first step, and Patricia followed my move. I could hear footsteps moving, and I knew we were on the move. We kept following that pattern for a couple of minutes until I could feel the couch. We were in the common room. "We're here," I said. "I'm going to wake Mara and Trudy. Don't let go of each other, and Patricia, stay where you are." I didn't know if she nodded, because I couldn't see her, but she didn't say anything.

I took a deep breath and started feeling around the couch for Trudy. I felt a tuft of hair, and I knew it was Trudy. I shook her shoulder. "Trudy," I whispered. "Trudy," I said, a little louder. She wasn't responding. I shook her harder. "TRUDY!" She didn't respond.

My heart was still pounding out of my chest. Trudy wasn't waking up. And that's when I realized something. I put my hand on her chest. Thank God, I could still hear a heartbeat. I sighed with obvious relief. She was alive, but she was still wasn't waking up. She was in some sort of coma. Oh, my God . . . this was not good. Not good in any way possible. "Mara," I muttered, as my eyes grew to the size of tennis balls.

I awkwardly ran over to the other couch, careful not to step on anything. I finally reached her, and she was lying uncomfortably on the arm. "MARA!" I yelled, but I knew that she was the same as Trudy. I held my stomach. I felt like I would hurl. This was really happening. Someone was going to get killed tonight.

"Fabian, where are you?" Patricia called from our linked group of friends. I held my hands out in front of me, and when I felt Patricia's hand, I said, "Right here. Trudy and Mara aren't waking up. They're in some sort of coma. We'll do something about it later, but right now we have bigger problems. The man is here tonight, and he threatens to kill us and Nina. We need to save her, and us, before one of us is gone forever."

"Fabian, this is really happening!" Amber cried. I could hear in her voice that she was crying. "We could get killed! The man could murder us!"

"That's right," said a voice.

I turned, and all I could see in the darkness was a huge, vivid, intense ball of red light coming toward us. This wasn't the man that I had heard on the phone on the 20th. It was someone else completely, and I knew that he had the ability of murdering us. He had crimson eyes, red skin as bright as the sun, and illuminated a dazzling burgundy.

"That's right, bitches. I'm the one that kidnapped Nina, not that pathetic Jason boy. I have her with me right now, even though you can't see her. And . . ." he brought something out of thin air. "I have a knife, and I'm not afraid to use it a second time."

I couldn't form words. _A second time. _That means he used a first. "You bastard," I cursed. "You hurt Nina."

The Man in Red smirked. "That's right. It was the only way."

"BITCH!" Jerome cursed. "WHERE IS SHE?"

Okay, that kind of surprised me. Jerome and Nina weren't close at all in her first year, but Jerome was acting as if they had been friends all of their life. Somehow, that was comforting, but it was still disturbing.

"As if I'd tell you children," The Man in Red said. "You wouldn't be able to handle it. Now, I must go. Do as I say, or one of your friends may be killed tonight . . ." The Man in Red chuckled as the big ball of red disappeared into the darkness.

The power came back.

I looked over at everyone else. I wasn't the only one shaking. Amber's cheeks were completely drenched. They looked like they had just gotten out of a pool. Alfie wasn't saying anything, but he was shaking like he had just walked out of a freezer. I could hear Mick's heart beating all the way from here. Jerome's expression still gave nothing away.

"We can't afford to lose anyone else," I said, even though my voice was faltering. "We need to stick together, and do whatever that bitch wants. That way, none of us will get hurt."

"He hurt Nina," Jerome muttered, a ferocious look in his eyes. "He has to pay."

"We don't know that," I said. I was doing a really shitty job as the leader. "He could have been lying."

"No, I wasn't!" The Man in Red's voice boomed, as if there was a loudspeaker in the House. "Go check out the laundry room."

I gulped. "We have to do what he said." I told them. "Come on. Let's go."

I led the way to the laundry room, my legs failing. I almost fell down two times on the short journey to the room. I slowly opened the door, knowing I would regret it. I heard the loud _reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaak_ of the door until it was opened all the way. And then I lost it.

There were at least two hundred photos scattered all over the room. Except they all showed the same thing, a thing that would haunt me for the rest of my life:

It showed Nina.

With a knife in her chest.

Her eyes were closed.

I couldn't tell if she was alive or not.

I picked up a photo and held it tight. If I was the leader, I couldn't cry.

But I just couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears fell, sliding down my cheeks. I crumpled on the spot, my legs failing. I fell to the ground on my knees, holding the picture close, sobbing. I could hear sobs coming from other people, and I knew that they were crying too.

I didn't know if it was minutes or hours, but Jerome got up op from his spot on the floor. "I'll be right back."

"Jerome, where are you going?" Amber croaked. "We can't lose you!"

"Trust me. You couldn't lose me even if you wanted to." He ran out of the laundry room and I followed him.

I met him at the door. "You're not going anywhere." I told him.

"I am. I'll be back. I can't be harmed." He told me in a rushed voice. "You'd want me to do this." He pushed me out of the way and opened the door into the stormy night.

"Will he come back?" Patricia asked me.

"I don't know . . . I think he sacrificed our life for us." I told them. It was the horrible truth, but it had to be spoken.

"No!" Patricia wailed. She collapsed onto the ground, burying her head in her hands and sobbing.

Amber came over, holding Alfie's hand. They were gripping each other so tight I could see both of their fingers paling. Amber's eyes were a glowing, vicious red, and her cheeks were completely soaked. Alfie was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Patricia was still on the floor, sobbing. Mick was standing, not saying a word.

We all waited a couple of minutes, but Jerome never returned. Amber started crying, but I could tell she was still shaken up from the previous experiences. "Guys!" I said. "We can't lose anybody else!" I yelled. "We need to stick together!"

There was a loud clap of thunder, and then a steak of yellow illuminated the room. Amber screamed. "It's just the storm!" I explained. "Everyone, get a partner and DON'T LET THEM GO! WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER!"

"We lost Jerome tonight," I said, "but we can't afford to lose anybody else. If we stay together, we will–"

I was cut off by the phone ringing. Everyone was silent. The phone continued to ring.

I slowly walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" I asked. My voice cracked. I couldn't hear anything at first. There was nothing coming through the phone at first, but then, like every cliché movie, I heard breathing. I knew it was the Man in Red. "GO AWAY, YOU CREEP!" I yelled, and slammed the phone down, hanging it up. I waited for another call, but I never got one.

I sat down in the chair and buried my face in my hands, running my hand though my hair. "Synopsis," I muttered to myself. "We got the message. The power went out. Trudy and Mara are in a coma. We saw the Man in Red. We saw a picture of Nina with a knife through her chest. Jerome sacrificed his life for us. The phone rang and no one was there. What's next?"

Mick came over. "Mate, what are we going to do? This is insane."

"I know," I told him. "I never thought it'd come to this. And it's all my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Mick asked. "It's not your fault that the man killed Nina tonight. It's not your fault that Jerome sacrificed his life. None of this is your fault."

"You don't get it, do you?" I said, speaking loudly over the loud thunder and lightning. "It sounds stupid, but it's true: I didn't stay after school on the seventeenth, and because I wasn't there, Nina got kidnapped by the Man in Red. It's all my fault." I wiped away a tear before it could escape my eye. "It's over. Everything's over. We might as well stop now."

"Oh, but it isn't over!" The Man in Red's voice boomed again. Amber screamed, and held on to Mick for dear life. "Go to the cemetery near the old folks' home. Be back at the House before sunrise, or I'll take another one of your lives." He laughed in evil, maniacal laugh, and then he was cut off by another clap of thunder.

Patricia was still sobbing on the floor. Alfie was over there now, trying to comfort her, but I could hear Patricia's sobs and hiccups.

"Go to the cemetery . . ." I repeated. "Old folks' home. Nina mentioned something about that . . . last year, when Sarah died. That's where they buried Sarah!"

"Why do we need to go to the cemetery?" Mick asked. "What's so special about that?"

"I'm not sure, Mick, but I won't let another one of you die. I'm not letting that happen." I walked over to Patricia and crouched in front of her. "Trixie, are you okay?"

"No," she said in between sobs. "He's dead, Fabian, he's really dead . . . he was one of my best friends, and now he's gone . . ."

"It'll all be okay," I whispered, embracing her in a hug. We stayed like that for a few seconds, and when I let go, Patricia looked a little better. "Come on now, we have to go to the cemetery."

She didn't argue. Alfie helped her up, and she held on to him for support. Amber grabbed his free hand, and they all walked out the door first. Mick walked out, and then I was last.

We were outside the House, standing in the pouring rain. I could feel my hair flattening already. "Nina took me to the old folks' home a couple of times," I yelled over the rain and thunder. "After you get out of the school, you take a right, and then a left. You go straight down the road for a couple of miles. You make one more right on a small dirt path, and you're there," I yelled. "We have nine hours to go to the cemetery and find whatever the man wanted, or else one of us is going to die. Now, come on!"

Mick laced him arm through mine, just so I knew he was there. I could barely see two inches in front of me in that rain.

Mick and I were in front. We led the way the whole time. It only took a couple of minutes to walk out of the school, but with the pouring rain, it took a little while to find the roads. Once, we almost got ran over by a car, but I pulled all of them away just in time.

We made a couple of wrong turns, but eventually, we found the old folks' home, we turned a corner, and we were there in the cemetery. The rain had let up a little, but the fog was so thick that it almost substituted for the rain.

"What are we supposed to find?" Amber wondered.

"Dunno," I said. "Maybe we should split up. If you guys see anything, holler for the rest of us, and _stay in pairs_."

Amber grabbed Alfie, Patricia grabbed Mick . . . and I was alone. But I was okay with that. I would rather it be that way.

I took a deep breath and started searching for something, anything the Man in Red might want. I'm not what anybody would want from a cemetery, but obviously the Man in Red wanted something. I didn't see anything out of place until Alfie called, "Uh, Fabian? I think I found it."

I came running over, and I was there in two seconds. Mick was there after, too. I didn't realize what Alfie had found until he pointed to nine gravestones, all in a row:

_Michael Charles Campbell  
>Jerome Connor Clarke<br>Mara Emily Jaffray  
>Alfred Marmaduke Lewis<br>Nina Samantha Martin  
>Joy Olivia Mercer<br>Amber Jaqueline Millington  
>Fabian Thomas Rutter<br>Patricia Grace Williamson_

They were all lined up, in alphabetical order. But our gravestones weren't the only things that scared me. Underneath each was a small gift.

Mick was shaking as he approached his gravestone. He was the first one, so we told him to go first. He bent down and picked up something. "A hat," he told us. "It's a cap."

Since Jerome was no longer with us, I walked up to his stone and picked up something glowing a bright green. "It's a necklace." I continued on to Mara's. "A pair of sunglasses."

"I have a pair of sunglasses too," Alfie exclaimed, from where he was standing right next to me.

I was terrified for Nina's. I walked around Alfie and bent down, felt around the ground, but I didn't feel anything. Zip. Nothing was there. "Guys, there's nothing on Nina's grave!" I said, voicing my thoughts. I walked over to the next grave, which was Joy's, but I didn't feel anything either. "Nothing's on Joy's."

Amber held up something small. "It's a ring!" she exclaimed.

Next was my grave. I was most terrified to see mine, because what would my grave hold for me? "A bracelet," I said, holding up the piece of string. "I have a bracelet."

"I have earrings," Patricia told us.

I had a bracelet. Nina and Joy had nothing on their graves. Mick had a hat. Jerome had a necklace. Alfie and Mara had sunglasses, Amber had a ring, and Patricia had earrings.

I didn't understand these gifts one bit, but I figured it was exactly what the Man in Red wanted. Maybe he wanted all kinds of jewelery?

"Oh, shit." I cursed. The sun was coming up. The man would kill one of us if we didn't make it back in time. The rain had cleared up, so we had a better chance of making it, but we might miss the mark and one of us would be dead. "Come on, guys!"

I led the way out of the graveyard and sprinted through the dirt paths. I followed the roads all the way home. Halfway through, it began to lightly drizzle, but it was definitely better than the downpour we had gotten earlier.

By the time we reached Anubis House, the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Every one of us was completely out of breath. We needed water and rest before we could do anything else.

We were walking up the steps of the House when I saw something; it was Nina, leaning over Jerome. She seemed to notice our presence, and sat up next to him. I glanced at Jerome, and I could clearly see his chest moving up and down. His eyes were closed. He was alive.

Nina carefully pushed herself up off the ground. She glanced at Jerome, and then back at all of us. She said only four words before shimmering into nothing:

"Take care of him."

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><p><strong>AN - Okay so this chapter was probably the most fun to write. I don't know why, it just was. xD  
>Have a sparkling day, and watch out for chapter 19! (Which sucks, by the way!)<br>~Julianna**


	19. Calling Nina on the Hypothetical Line

**A/N – **_Stupid me decided to clean out all of my documents. Stupid me decided to clean out my "Don't Be Afraid" chapters. Stupid me decides to do it quickly. Stupid me wasn't looking. Stupid me deleted the completed chapter 19. There's proof, everyone. I, Julianna, am stupid. I do hope you enjoy this re-write, though. _  
><em><strong>DISCLAIMER<strong>: I don't own House of Anubis, but I do own this stupid re-write of a chapter that stupid me decided to delete._ **  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Amber<em><br>_Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 6:06 a.m ****  
><strong>

The boys picked Jerome up and tossed him up, leaning him against their shoulders. I thought I saw him stir once or twice.**  
><strong>

Fabian, Mick, and Alfie brought him into the common room and threw him on the couch. Patricia and I slowly trailed behind them. After he was settled on the couch, I eyed everyone in the room. We had all been through hell with The Man In Red, the horrible man whom flames ignited on his body. All I wanted to do right now was run upstairs into my room, hide under the covers and cry, but I couldn't do that.

The Man In Red could take one of our lives in a millisecond. We had to obey him, so this whole thing could be over. We'd destroy him, get Nina back, and everything would be back to normal. I just wanted my normal life back; going to school, coming home, and going to sleep with my roomie, Nina, without worrying about 'dreams' or getting killed by the man who kidnapped my friend.

I didn't know what to do.

We stared at Jerome, passed out on the couch. He was alive and breathing; he was obviously sleeping. He must've been really tired to sleep though all of the commotion in just bringing him in. I'm glad I didn't, though - I might have broken a nail. Trust me, this manicure cost more than car.

Alright, so I might have been exaggerating there. But you get the point. I wasn't going to ruin my perfectly manicured nails, much less drag a sleeping boy in.

Fabian sighed. "We should get him an ice pack." he announced.

Mick snapped his fingers. "On it," he told us. He disappeared for literally less than a second, as if he'd fell off the face of the earth, or maybe turned invisible. Then, just as suddenly as he had done it, he was back, carrying an ice pack. He hadn't even gone into the kitchen. How had he done that?

By now, I had stopped asking questions. But this one was mind-boggling. How could he have done that so quickly? Was his power, like, super-speed, or something? That would be _awesome_.

Fabian eyed him with suspicion, and I could tell he was thinking the same things I was. He didn't say anything; he took the ice pack from his hands and placed it on his forehead.

I sat down on the floor, crossing my legs, and everyone else followed my lead. Everyone in this room was in Sibuna, so I knew it was safe to talk. I didn't particularly want to, though. I was passed out from running all the way to the old folks' home and back. I could've passed out right there and then, and it looked like the others could've too.

Fabian blinked sleep out of his eyes and reached into his bag. He pulled out the gifts we had received on our graves - which still freaked me out. Why did we have graves in the first place? We were all sixteen. We had so much more life to live before we were gone. I hoped that didn't mean the Man In Red was going to kill us anytime soon.

Fabian pulled out a pink ring - my gift. The ring itself was gold with little diamonds near the stone, which was a shining pink, shaped like a square, but curved at the edges. It was pretty, but I knew deep inside of me that it was cursed. I could feel that it would show me horrible things that would be etched into my mind forever; horrible, terrifying images that really stir something inside of me.

I slid it onto my ring finger, wondering what a small little object would hold for me.

Fabian grabbed two pairs of sunglasses from the bag. He still wasn't talking; none of us were. I figured all of us were too exhausted to speak.

He gave the yellow-rimmed pair to Alfie, and slowly pushed himself off of the ground. He walked over to Mara, who was still in a coma on the couch. He placed the blue-rimmed sunglasses next to her body, and then slowly came back to us. He sat down again and reached into his bag, pulled out Jerome's necklace, and again had to get up to place it around his neck. The locket had a silver chain and a green pendent. When Fabian placed the necklace around Jerome's neck, the pendent glowed, illuminating a dazzling green light, just like the color of the pendent. The light glowed brighter until it illuminated the entire room, but suddenly the light died and the regular lights returned. Jerome breathed, turned on his side, and continued to sleep.

Fabian sat down next to us again. He grabbed the bracelet next; his gift. I could tell by his expression that something about his gift bothered him, but even he couldn't place why. I understood - my gift bothered me. I found it on my grave. I liked it, though - it was pretty and matched a lot of my clothes. But Fabian - there was something more. He knew something.

But did he even know he knew?

He sighed, and latched the chain around his wrist. The strings were red, white, and blue - just like the American flag - but the bracelet was mostly blue. There were little spots of red and blue on the strings, with a small little knot in the center that wasn't completely knotted - it was hard to explain.

Then, he grabbed a hat out of his bag. He handed it to Mick, since it was on his grave. Mick grabbed it, played with it in his hands for a minute, but never put it on.

Finally, he pulled a pair of earrings out. They were studs, a simple red circle, but had its own beauty. Everyone had their gifts.

Fabian clenched his fists. He spoke up, loudly, breaking the silence. "ALRIGHT!" He screamed. "WE HAVE WHAT YOU WANT! COME AND GET THEM!"

There was a loud clap of thunder. The power went out. I wanted so badly to scream, but after today's fiasco with the man torturing us, I had screamed enough. I wasn't scared of thunder anymore. I held myself together as I saw a streak of lightning flash across the sky, the only light in the House. Then, I saw a bright red light. The Man In Red was here.

"Hello, my friends," he said, spreading his hands out. "It's such a pleasure to see you all again."

"Oh, shut up!" Patricia yelled. "Why don't you just leave us alone? We don't want anything to do with you! Just leave us alone!"

The Man In Red raised both of his eyebrows. They were burgundy, just like the rest of his body, which flames ignited upon.

I'm not kidding about the flames. There was actual fire coming off of his body. He was a big ball of light, just like the sun, but . . . fire.

"Well, girl, since I'm your only connection to Nina and ever finding her, I don't suppose you want me to leave, now do you?"

The big ball of light, who was also the Man In Red, sauntered up to Patricia. She didn't say a word; only glared at him. "Don't be rude to me ever again. Or I'll make you pay, just like I make Martin pay every day. Stop it, girl."

He eyed the rest of us. "What did you want? I need to get back to "that place" as you children call it. I think I'll torture Martin just because Williamson was rude to me . . . yes. So what do you need?"

Fabian took a shaky breath. "We have the gifts you wanted us to take. Please just take them, never come back, and never talk to us again."

The Man In Red tapped his chin as if he was thinking very intently about something. I thought his finger should've burst into flames . . . but then I realized it already was. His whole body was in flames. "I think I'll torture Martin for everything you say that annoys me. So now . . . two times. You can keep going if you want." He let loose a sickening smile.

As a child, I never understood how someone could kill another soul. But now, looking at the Man In Red . . . I understand. I could kill that man right now with my bare hands. Nina's my friend, and no one was allowed to torture my friends.

No one said a word. We were as quiet as a mouse. There was no sound in Anubis House except for the electrical current. None of us wanted to be the reason Nina would have a broken arm.

"Alright, then. About your gifts . . . you should keep them. It leads you to something. Just watch out; it might lead you to something good, or something bad. Maybe even both. But they are essential in finding Martin, so I suggest you use them."

He laughed, an evil, menacing laugh that I had heard somewhere before. It wasn't from yesterday; there was a vague remembrance in my mind of something. Something blue . . .

I couldn't think of it. I probably knew the laugh because it was such an evil laugh. But still . . . there was something more to that laugh . . .

It absolutely killed me inside that I couldn't place it.

It was honestly hard to go into detail about what the Man In Red looked like. All I could really say was that flames ignited on his skin, as if someone poured gasoline on all of his skin. Even his eyes were covered. He kind of illuminated a light, as if he was the light bulbs or the chandelier. It was so hard to go into detail . . .

"Why do you care about Nina?" Mick asked, genuinely confused. I felt a twinge of guilt - about not telling him about everything. Actually, scratch that. I regret telling him in the first place. Nina was right. Dragging people into this was a horrible mistake. I finally understood her motives. If more people were in this, more people would get hurt, and it would be Nina's fault. For once, I understood her fully.

It would probably only be that once.

The Man In Red laughed. "Hah!" he snorted. "I couldn't care less about that stupid girl. In fact, I could kill her right now and I wouldn't care. But . . . I need her. She's the only way to reach you stupid children."

After he called me stupid, I wanted to spring up, jump onto his back, and wring his neck, but Fabian flashed me a look that said, _Don't._ And I knew I couldn't. He'd either hurt me, one of the Sibunas', or Nina. I bit my lip, holding back my anger. "What do you mean?" I asked him, struggling to keep my voice under control.

He sighed, a sigh of displeasure and annoyance. "I can't tell you. That would ruin all the fun. Now, I must go, you dim-witted kids. MWAH!" He screamed, and the flames that danced on his body burned brighter. He disappeared in a puff of charcoal-black smoke, and then the power came back on.

Fabian breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, guys. I know none of you want to obey him, but he can hurt Nina . . . and us. Please. I don't want anyone to get hurt. We can't afford injuries, so please . . . just do what he says. Just for now."

Fabian looked terrified. He still wasn't confident being the leader. And, just to confirm the theory, he said, "I'm doing a really shitty job as leader, I know. I don't think I'm right for this role. I wasn't meant for it. But, since Nina's not here, I'm the one that's responsible for you all. Today is the first day of November. If I don't want to be the leader by the first day of December, you have to promise that someone will take up my role."

We nodded. Fabian sighed. He eyed everyone in the room, his gaze resting on Patricia and I. "Why don't you girls go to bed? It's been a long night. I'm sure you're tired. I'll meet you in the morning, alright?"

I nodded, and started to walk up the stairs, Patricia following behind me. I made my way to my room, and crashed down on my bed. I was about to close my eyes when I heard a shriek. "FABIAN!"

I quickly threw the blankets off and ran outside, seeing Patricia run from her room down the stairs, and I followed her. She continued to run until she arrived at Fabian's door and knocked, bringing all of her energy into her little fist. She continued to knock until Fabian finally opened the door.

"Patricia? What the hell do you want? I'm going to bed," he complained. He was in his red bathrobe.

Patricia didn't say anything; she only pointed at the common room. She didn't move her arm, much less a muscle, until Fabian started to walk toward the common room. Patricia trailed after him and when he arrived in the common room, he said, "Oh."

When I arrived there, I saw what Patricia was talking about. Mara and Trudy were still in a coma. We had to do something, or they would get sick, or hurt, or something . . .

Fabian walked up to Mara first. He lightly shook her, and just with that slightest touch, she woke up. "Wha . . .?" she asked, dazed, as if she had just woken up from an hour long nap.

"Mara, everything's okay. Just go with Patricia. She'll lead you into the room." Fabian told her.

Right there, Fabian proved himself wrong. He said he was doing a shitty job as leader, but he told Mara what to do right after she had woken from a coma. I might know nothing about leading, but I knew that Fabian was the right choice. For now, at least.

Mara nodded, obviously still dazed, and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. It looked like she hadn't slept in weeks; her eyes were drooped, she had purple bags underneath them, and she looked as if she could pass out right there and then. Patricia grabbed her wrist, helping her off of the couch, and started to lead her upstairs. Fabian started to walk over to Trudy, but I stopped him. He regarded me with a look of confusion, and I answered, "If we wake her up, she'll make us go to school. Fabian, I don't want to go to school tomorrow . . . I'm scared . . ." I admitted.

Fabian nodded, understanding. Then he sighed. "Alright. We won't wake her up for now. You do understand they we have to eventually, right?" I nodded. "Alright. Go to sleep. You definitely deserve some sleep." I agreed with his thought, so I climbed up the stairs, and plopped down on my bed again. I got one last glance of the ring on my finger before passing out.

* * *

><p>I was expecting to open my eyes and find myself in my room, the late afternoon sun shining through my window, but instead I found something else. When I opened my eyes, I saw a large white house with paint that was tearing off. When I looked to the left, I saw a lake, reflecting the bright. dazzling sun on the water. Then I turned to the right and saw a dense, thick forest that clouded my vision. I turned around, and saw a large staircase lead down to the fog.<p>

I recognized the place. It was the place I had drawn. It was the place where Nina was trapped.

I gasped. If this was the place . . . than I was having a dream. I was having an actual dream, the ones that Fabian has talked about since day three of Nina's disappearance. This was happening.

I tried looking around for Nina, because if this was a dream, than she should have been in front of me, giving me "clues". Instead, she wasn't there. She wasn't in front of me, to the left or the right, or even behind me. She was nowhere in sight. For a moment, I thought she might have been inside that house, and I was considering starting to walk towards it, but instead I found Nina.

She was standing right in front of me, her back to my face. I didn't know how I didn't see her before; she must've just come, because right now she was right smack in front of me.

Everything Fabian had told me about was true. Her shimmering white dress, now stained with blood . . . her dirty-blonde hair that almost always stayed put because there was no wind blowing . . . and the bruises. From the back, all I could really see of her were her arms, but even they were bruised, and covered with cuts and scratches.

I remembered that the Man In Red had done this to her, had abused her and given her bruises and scars. It only made me want to kill him more. Then I remembered that technically it was Jason who kidnapped her; yet, he was possessed . . .

Note to self: remember to slap Fabian the next time I see him.

I tried calling out to her, but my voice wouldn't work. Then I tried running to her, but my legs wouldn't work. I remembered Fabian saying something about being paralyzed . . . was this what he meant?

I continually tried to call out, but my voice was failing me. I felt a tear stream down my face, and I sniffled; but the scary part is, I couldn't hear it. I was deaf again.

That thought was easily dismissed as soon as Nina turned around to face me. She didn't say anything, but she looked me in the eyes, and that only made things worse.

Because her eyes weren't the normal green they were supposed to be. They were crimson.

The same shade of crimson as the Man In Red.

* * *

><p><strong>11:25 a.m.<strong>

I woke up sweating. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and I couldn't grasp reality. I held onto my pillow as I tried to calm my breathing rate and my heartbeat.**  
><strong>

As soon as they had calmed, I remembered what had happened. I had a dream. I gasped, turned around in my bed and started to say, "Nina!" when I remembered that she was gone. She was gone, and that's why I had the dream in the first place.

I considering grabbing my pillow and just crying into it for a couple of hours, but that would only waste time. I had to speak to the only one who would understand.

As I slid off the bed, I grabbed a throw blanket and tossed it around my shoulders, walking down the stairs. Patricia and Mara were still sleeping, I guessed; it had been a long night for Patricia and Mara had just come out of a short coma. Victor wasn't in his office, so I guessed he had some business to take care of at the school. I hurried downstairs, and knocked on the boy's door. I wasn't sure if I should have knocked on the other one's door, but now I knew it was the right choice.

The boy opened the door. "Amber?" he asked. "What's wrong?" he regarded me with concern.

"I had a dream," I murmured, staring at the ground. Even though I was looking down, somehow I could see, maybe sense, that the boy's eyes widened.

"Like, a dream, or a _dream dream_?"

All I did was look at him, and he understood. "Oh, wonderful," he muttered. Then Fabian looked at me. "Come on, Amber. We need to talk."

**XxX**

The first thing I did when Fabian sat down on my bed was slap his arm.**  
><strong>

"Ow!" he complained. "What was that for?"

"For not telling us how Nina's kidnapper was!" I exclaimed. Honestly, he should've told us in the first place!

"I told you!" Fabian shot back. "It would've scared you! And if I told you it was Jason, you would've gone after him! Now, look. It wasn't Jason after all. It was that Man In Red, that fireball. I was wrong."

"Well, you should've told us!" I wailed. "Nina's my friend too. I deserved to know."

"Yes, you did," Fabian said. "I'm sorry. But that's not the point right now. Amber . . . tell me everything."

So I did. I told him about arriving in the place, not seeing Nina & then suddenly seeing her, trying to call out to her, and then finally seeing her eyes.

"Fabian . . . I'm scared for Nina," I admitted.

"I am too," Fabian told me. "I'm not doubting your sight and knowing. You're the one who can see. I just . . . if they're the same color . . . it can't be . . . Jason's eyes weren't red . . ."

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

He paused. "Maybe we should get the others. It might be better if we -"

"No!" I wailed. "I want to talk to you alone. We always talk with Sibuna, and . . . I want to have a private chat with you. Fabian, _I had a dream . . ._"

"I know," he said. "I don't know if you're right or not. But before, I was talking about Jason. He would never kidnap Nina on his own will. He's our friend . . . he only joined that stupid society because he had an illness. He wouldn't do that unless . . . unless someone told him to."

"He was being controlled?" I guessed.

Ever since I joined Sibuna (well, I was the founder), I'd been understanding a lot more things. Before Nina came and we starting searching for the Cup of Ankh, I never understood anything, school-related or not. If someone told me a rumor, I wouldn't understand it, and probably just pass it along. But now, I understand a lot more. I'm just not, "The Dumb Blonde" as people would label me. I just liked girly things. I wasn't dumb; maybe I could be dim, but I certainly wasn't dumb.

Fabian nodded. "Yeah. And . . . I think there was more to that." I widened my eyes and stared at him, willing him to go on. "I think someone was inside of him, telling him what to do. I think . . . I think he was possessed . . . by The Man In Red."

"No way!" I exclaimed. "He couldn't be possessed! He couldn't! What about his eyes? If he was possessed by the Man In Red . . . than his eyes should've been red! He couldn't have been possessed, he just couldn't have been . . . it doesn't add up . . ."

Fabian rubbed his temples. "I came up with this theory. I think Jason fought back. I think he honestly never wanted to be possessed, so he fought back, and when he was with us kids, he didn't want us to to see him as the Man In Red. I think he fought the Man In Red, and then finally the Man In Red dumped him . . . literally."

"Than . . . where is Jason?"

Fabian looked me straight in the eyes. "I think I have an idea." Then he closed his eyes, mouthing a couple words. He waited a couple of seconds, and then smiled.

"What?" I asked him.

He smiled brighter. "I have Nina on the hypothetical line."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN - My dog probably despises me right now. I woke him up at 1 in the morning to re-write this dumb chapter because it killed me inside that I had to do it. But . . .If you caught the Pretty Little Liars reference, than I love you. :D  
><em>_Yo, everyone. My chapters are getting worse by the second. I hope my writing can get better before this story ends . . .  
>Have a sparkling day. *~*<br>P.S. - My dog is now snoring louder than he ever has. Now I think he's out to get revenge.  
>~Julianna<em>**


	20. Every Gift Comes With a Price

_A/N - thank you all for the wonderful reviews. :3  
>I decided to stop with my "system". It made writing kind of hard for me, which is weird, but now I'm back to actually updating. I love all my readers. xoxo<br>I can't believe I'm actually on chapter 20. It seems like yesterday I had an extreme case of writer's block while I was writing chapter 2. It's insane. I love every person who reviews, they make my day. :)  
>Have a sparkling day! *~*<br>~Julianna xoxo_

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>****Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 11:32 a.m.**_**  
><strong>_

I smiled brightly. "I have Nina on the hypothetical line."

"What do you mean?" Amber asked me. She had so many expressions on her face and in her eyes, it was almost hard to read. There was hope, doubt, worry, and relief. Oh, and confusion. She obviously didn't know what I meant.

"I'm talking to her," I explained. "In my mind. Yeah, I know, it's weird, and you're probably thinking I'm going crazy, but I'm -"

She cut me off. "I don't think you're going crazy," she said, which surprised me. "I've talked to her too."

I blinked, soaking that information in. Amber talked to her? I opened my mouth to say something, but then I remembered why Amber had gotten mad at her in the first place. Nina had talked to her, and Amber had gotten mad for reasons unknown. I was about to ask her if Amber wanted to talk to her, but as if she had read my mind, Amber spoke, "And I'm not going to talk to her. I'm still mad at her, so don't ask."

I could've sworn for a moment that Nina was her friend again, but I guess I was wrong. I rolled my eyes. Nina had been gone for three weeks and one day now. Amber hadn't seen her for twenty-two days now. They were best friends before she disappeared. How could Amber just abandon her? I wondered what she would do if she knew the truth about the place, what was in it, and what was happening to Nina. Would they accept each other again? What would happen?

There were so many questions . . .

_But so little time,_ Nina spoke in my mind. _Don't worry about Amber. She's just being stubborn. She's still my friend, if you're wondering. Give her time and she's soften. I know she will._

I sighed. _I know, _I thought. _But if she knew the truth . . ._

_She won't be able to handle it just yet, _Nina said, taking a shaky breath before starting again, _she will eventually._

Just before, I had thought of the place, and of Nina. I had thought her name, speaking in my mind, and she had answered. It was kind of weird, what we were doing. I guess we were . . . mind-talking? I didn't know what we were doing exactly. _  
><em>

I closed my eyes for a moment, and I remembered what Amber had told me about Nina's eyes being red. _Nina,_ I thought sternly. I guess you could say I was yelling in my mind.

_Yes?_ she answered softly.

_Are you okay? _I thought desperately. I couldn't say we were talking . . . we were thinking, I guess. Well, I was. I didn't know if Nina was thinking or talking, but I wouldn't know. Maybe not for a day or two. _I . . . I know what happened last night. I'm sorry. Are you okay? _

Nina didn't answer for a moment. She took a deep breath before answering, _I'm fine. Really, it wasn't a big deal. He just kind of got mad at me, that's all. _

_But Nina . . . you were possessed by him. Jason was possessed also, do you realize that?  
><em>

_Yeah. After Jason died, I kind of realized that. But Fabian, I'm fine. Really. There's no need to worry about me. I'm fine, I'm just kind of tired . . . from when he . . . well, you know . . . _I heard Nina sniffle, as if she was about to cry. I wanted to see her and hug her, but right now I couldn't. We were in two different places right now, but hopefully we'd be in the same place in a couple of hours. I needed a dream.

I blinked and stared down at my feet on the ground. _Nina, everything's going to be okay. We'll be together again, and the Man In Red will be destroyed. Everything will be back to normal._

Nina didn't answer, but this time she wasn't avoiding the question, or even hesitating. I could tell that she hadn't heard me. For a scary moment, I thought it was going to be like when Amber went deaf, but then she said, _What? _as if she hadn't heard me._  
><em>

I repeated what I said.

_Oh. Yeah . . . I hope. _Nina sniffled again, and I heard her voice catch, and I knew she had started crying. _I . . . I have to go, Fabian. Before I go, I just want to say I'm sorry. About everything; what I did before, and what I'm about to do know. None of it was your fault, or anyone's. I'm sorry, _she repeated once more, and then I heard the sounds of the world around me again, almost as if . . . she had hung up.

"Hello?" Amber yelled, exasperated. I blinked, regarding the blonde with a look of confusion. She raised her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you didn't hear me. I screamed your name at least ten times!" she exclaimed.

I shook my head. "No," I told her. "I honestly didn't hear you."

I told Amber about my conversation with Nina, and she looked saddened. "She's still in that place?" I nodded miserably. Amber sighed. She looked down at the ground and started to play with her fingers.

"You know, we should really think of a name for the place she's trapped in," Amber said, changing the subject. I wasn't mad; honestly, I wanted to change the subject too.

I narrowed my eyes, thinking of the subject that Amber had just brought up. "What is there to name it? There's a house, a lake, a staircase, and a forest. There's nothing special about that place." . . . at least, not really. Scratch that - everything was special in that place. Although, I did agree with Amber that we should think of a name. It was getting kind of annoying calling it, "That Place."

Amber shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" she asked. Then she stared down at her ring again, the one that we had found on her grave. I glanced down at my bracelet that I wore on my wrist. What were these gifts supposed to mean? The Man In Red had mentioned that they would lead us to Nina.

She continued staring at the ring, but soon enough her eyes gained this blank, far-away expression, glazing over. She started to fall over, and I caught her. "Watch out, Amber!" I scolded, but she didn't answer. Her eyes kept the far-away look, and for a moment, my heart stopped. The same thing happened to Patricia when she went blind. Would the same thing happen to Amber.

"Amber, please, snap out of it!" I yelled, but yet again she didn't answer. Amber stared off into space, and I could do nothing but take a deep breath. I kept forgetting that I was the leader. I needed to lead. I needed to be Superman.

I tilted my head back, thinking of what to do, when I heard Amber say, "What?"

"Oh, thank God!" I breathed, sitting up again. The color had returned to her eyes. It was if she had zoned out, but somehow I knew there was more to it than that. And I needed to figure out what it was. "Amber, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Amber told me. "Why? And . . . what happened?" she said, repeating my question. She started to answer. "Well, there was this black hole, and I was sucked into it, like dust in a vacuum. It sucked me in so fast, so quickly, that I barely had time to breathe, much less know what was going in. I was faced with pitch-black darkness, and then I saw us all out in front of the House. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. It was a beautiful day outside, but what just happened wasn't beautiful. Fabian . . . that was the day we had received the call that said Nina was dead. I know it's fake now, but we didn't believe that at the time." she paused. "-I thought I was going deaf again, because I couldn't hear anything. I could see us talking and crying, but couldn't hear us doing that. Then . . . out of nowhere, I could hear Alfie's voice. He was saying, _maybe she's a shadow. _Fabian . . . I think I know what the place is called."

My eyes widened. "Well?" I pressed.

Amber opened her mouth to start saying something, but then suddenly, she shrieked and hid under the covers. "Amber?" I called. "Amber, what are you doing? Are you okay?"

"No!" Amber cried. I rolled my eyes, and tore the covers off of her body. She regarded me, a look of immense fear in her eyes. "Fabian . . . h - he was there. He was right there!"

She pointed to the window, and I narrowed my eyes. "I don't see anything."

"It was right there! It was! I'm not going crazy!" she exclaimed.

"I don't think you're going crazy," I repeated what she had told me. She looked relieved, and then she said, "Fabian . . . do you think the place where Nina's trapped - do you think we could find it by just exploring the woods?" she quizzed.

I shook my head. "No," I began. "It's special. There's something to that place that couldn't be found by just looking. I think the Man In Red used some sort of magic to make that place."

Amber looked baffled. "So, if the Man In Red is a shadow . . ." Then her head bolted up, as if she had found the meaning of life. "Fabian!" she cried. "The place. Shadowland. It's called Shadowland."

I judged the name. Shadowland . . . it fit. "Shadowland," I said, testing the name on my lips. I sighed. "Where all of your nightmares come true."

* * *

><p><em><span>Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 12:30 p.m.<span>  
>Amber and I had a nice talk.<em> _Well . . . almost. We talked for a while, but I wouldn't consider it nice. We discovered a few things. One: Nina was possessed by the Man In Red, but she's fine now. Thank God, she didn't drop dead like Jason did when the Man In Red dumped him. Two: I can talk to Nina without actually talking. I can talk in my mind - think to her, almost. Three: Amber's the One Who Can See. More details on that later. Four: The name of the place where Nina's trapped in is called Shadowland. _  
><em>Amber told me to go and look after Jerome. The others are sleeping; Amber woke me up when she got the dream. Now, my journal is now becoming Sibuna's. I had to change the cover. She says she'll write an entry later.<br>Jerome is stirring. I'll write later.  
>~Fabian<em>

Jerome yawned, and stretched his arms, just like they did in the movies. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and regarded the room around him with a sense of distaste. After checking out the room for a moment, he noticed me and scowled. "What are you doing here?" he said coldly._  
><em>

"Nice to see you too," I muttered, and rolled my eyes. I met his gaze again, and a look of confusion crossed his face. "We found you passed out in front of the house. We brought you in, set you down on the couch, and you've been sleeping for six hours. Do you remember anything?" I asked.

Jerome closed his eyes for a second, but he opened them just as quickly. "Yes," he confirmed. "I do. Would you like to hear the story?"

I nodded. Jerome opened his mouth, and began his story.

**XxX**

_**Jerome**_

After I left the House and the worried cries of my friends, I stepped outside into the pouring rain. I didn't think about the rain pounding down on my head. I knew what I was doing.**  
><strong>

Unfortunately I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

I ran my hand through my already-soaked blond hair. I whipped my head around, rain flinging around my face. I blinked the wet drops of water out of my eyes so I could see better. I considered yelling out, but I knew that wouldn't help. I had to find them on my own.

I took a deep breath, shook the rain out of my face like a wet dog, and was about to run north, but before I could sprint off into nowhere, I could groaning and mumbling to my left. I whipped my head to the left, and I saw what I was looking for.

That was easier than I expected.

I sprinted over to Nina. She was lying on the ground, curled up in fetal position. Fresh blood was splattered all over her white dress. I knew what had caused that as soon as I saw the knife lying right next to me. Someone had stabbed her.

"Okay, Nina, I'm here. It's gonna be okay." I told her, attempting to comfort her. As soon as I knelt down next to her, I knew what I needed to do, and was scared that I did. I knew deep inside that I had to do this. This was my destiny. This was who I was destined to be. "Nina, can you understand me?"

She nodded weakly, and closed her eyes tightly, preparing for what was to come. I raised my hand, brought it closer to her chest, but suddenly, there was a bright red light that illuminated the ground around me. This light was immensely bright, and had a bright burgundy aura. I considering going through with my plan and ignoring the crimson light, but after a voice said, "You do that, Clarke, and I kill both of you."

I hesitantly craned my neck upward, and I saw something that I had never seen before. It was a man, but this man had flames igniting all over his body, even that place where you r_eally_ don't want fire to be ignited in. He illuminated a bright red, and I knew that he was the light before.

"Why would you kill me?" I quizzed. The man with flames on his body stood his ground. His expression gave nothing away; you couldn't tell if he was amused, annoyed, or taken aback. I didn't know what else to do, so before I stood up, I whispered to Nina, "It'll only be a second," and extended my knees.

I stood face to face with the man who had flames dancing on his body. He released a sickening smile before I repeated, "Why would you kill me? You need me. You would be utterly retarded to kill me. Besides, I'm invulnerable. You can't kill me." The tips of my lips creeped upward, almost forming a smile, but I made them form a frown. I didn't want this man knowing anything.

"Oh, Clarke. You ignorant, ignorant boy. You cannot be hurt, you're right, but you can be killed."

I could feel a look of confusion cross my face. "What?" I questioned. "I don't understand."

The Man With Flames rolled his eyes. "You're invulnerable, yes. You're right. But Clarke, every gift comes with a price. You cannot be hurt, but if someone were to somehow kill you, you will be dead."

I could feel anger boil up inside me. Everything was happening too fast. I had just found out who I was about one minute ago, and the Man With Flames was already telling me new things about myself. How was I supposed to keep up? This was all so crazy. This couldn't be happening.

I knew though, that it was happening. Nina was dying. I knew who I was. The Man With Flames was already giving me death threats. The people in Anubis House, basically the only friends I ever had - and they were barely my friends. But since I was who I was, I had to save them. I was their only hope.

I stood up straight, gaining only a smidge of confidence. "No. I am The Healer. I must perform my job, and you're not going to stop me." I growled through my teeth. I made some sort of hissing sound deep in my throat. This man really sparked something in me.

I didn't even have time to think of what I said - I was the Healer? - before I knelt down next to Nina again. I took a deep breath and told her, calmly, so she wouldn't freak out, "Alright, N. You know what I have to do. It'll be over before you know it. I don't know what's gonna happen to either of us, but I know we can make it through. Are you ready?"

She closed her eyes tighter, groaned, and nodded her head quickly. She was in a lot of pain, and it was my job to heal her. At least, I thought it was.

I took in a deep breath, placed my hand on her chest, and started to recite a poem of some sort. I don't remember anything of that poem, not even a word, much less a letter. After I finished the poem, I felt a rush of exhaustion, but struggled to keep my eyes open to see how Nina was doing. Her eyes were open, and a look of physical relief was spread across her face. I knew I had done my job.

Sadly, my job came with a price.

I stood up to see the Man With Flames holding his palm out to me, a fireball dancing in his palm, growing in size and strength. I felt my heartbeat speed up, knowing the Man could easily kill me.

I braced myself for death when I saw the fireball graze off of his palm and speed toward my way.

Everything seemed to slow down, the moment before you die.

It's a sad feeling, knowing you're going to die in two seconds, but when you realize you died for someone, seven someones actually, it makes everything seem better.

But death didn't come.

After waiting five seconds, and realizing I was still here, I slowly peeled my eyes open to find the Man With Flames yelling, groaning, and complaining.

"Ugh!" he screamed. He was glaring at his hand, as if it had done something wrong. I glanced down at my body; everything was how it should be. The only thing that wasn't normal was my soaked clothes from the rain. I didn't see how that big ball of fire couldn't have killed me, but when I glanced up again, the Man With Flames was now glaring at me.

"You may have won this time, Clarke, but prepare. Next time I see you, you are the first one I will kill. Watch out." He blew a row of fire at me, and I dodged out of the way at the last minute. Then the Man disappeared in a puff of charcoal-black smoke.

I knelt down next to Nina again. Her dress was still soaked in blood, but her eyes were open. She looked exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in two weeks. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and sat up. "Rest, Jerome. You need it."

"No, I just . . . I'm fine," I said, yawning, which only gave my cover away."

"Rest," Nina said, which was the last thing I heard before passing out.

**XxX**

"And that's what happened. Fabian, do you realize what you need?"**  
><strong>

He nodded. "Yes," he said. "I need a dream."

* * *

><p><em>AN - But at least I didn't delete this chapter along with chapter 19.  
>Have a sparkling day! *~*<br>~Julianna_


	21. She's not the kind you'll come to miss

_"A broken mirror  
><em>_A bleeding fist  
>A silver blade against a wrist<br>Tears falling down to lips unkissed  
>She's not the kind you'll come to miss."<br>_

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>

I latched my pinkie finger onto Nina's, watching the tears fall down her face. I stared at our fingers, now connected. We had just made an everlasting promise, that if I broke, would be the death of Nina.

No, I did not just ask her to marry me. I'm only sixteen, for God's sake. This promise was something much worse.

It was one of those promises, where if you break it, pretty much everyone you know and love will instantly go from loving you, to hating you in two seconds. It's not one of those promises that you'll eventually forget. It's one of those kind, where your friends, that are no longer your friends, will hold it against you until the day you die. Maybe it would even be the reason of your death. It was a horrible promise, but I had to make it. If I hadn't made the promise, my friends would only despise me more.

Nina sniffled, hiccupped, and then breathed, "Thank you." she leaned her head against my shoulder. She moved her arm across my sight, and I caught sight of the fresh cut on her wrist, the one she had just made with a broken piece of glass, trying to cut a vain, ultimately killing herself.

You're probably confused. Let's back-forward a couple of minutes, when I first received the dream that turned my world upside down.

**\XxX/  
><strong>

I leaned many things during the time when Nina was giving me dreams. One of the things she taught me was that some people hide their pain better than others. Nina was definitely one of those people.

She had told me before that I didn't need the locket, but I took it anyway. I always held it before I went to sleep. I said "goodnight" to Mick and I slipped into unconsciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Shadowland; the place where Nina was trapped. Amber and I had found out earlier that morning that the place was called "Shadowland".

There was no "poof", or no "abracadabra". Just some weird kind of magic that brought me here. I craned my neck, searching for Nina, for I knew she was going to be somewhere here, in Shadowland.

But this time, something was different about the place. The sky wasn't the beautiful shade of blue it usually was, with a light splatter of clouds. No, now it was covered with dark grey clouds that blocked out the sun, forbidding any light to enter into this horrible, drab place. Thunder rumbled, and lightning streaked across the sky.

I glanced around Shadowland once more, trying to gain even the slightest sight of Nina. Unfortunately, I couldn't even see two feet in front of me because of the thick fog in front of me, a thin veil trying to block my sight. It tried to seep into my eyes, but I quickly snapped them shut before the fog could mess up my eyesight.

I coughed twice, trying my hardest to think of how to find Nina. She had obviously called me for a dream; so where was she? I figured I couldn't get anywhere with this fog in front of me, so I blinked fiercely, clearing my eyesight. I waved some of the thick fog out of my face, and I could see only a little bit farther into the distance. I knew my hearing wasn't as sharpened as Patricia's, but I could faintly hear a soft sob in the distance. A cold feeling of fear washed over me. Could that be . . .?

I started to walk towards the sound, following the echo. I only took four steps before something sharp went into my foot. I screamed out in pain.

I winced, closing my eyes tightly, bracing my foot in my hand. I slowly opened my eyes, preparing to see something horrible. Instead, all I saw was a small piece of glass wedged in the palm of my foot. I shuddered when I came to the realization that I'd have to take this piece of glass out myself.

So, I sat down, trying desperately to ignore the shooting pain up my foot, and hopped over to a spot where I couldn't see the trail of glass anymore. I winced and groaned as I lowered my body onto the freezing cold ground. I exhaled, and then took in a deep breath as I held up my bleeding foot to my face. The piece of glass that was wedged in my foot wasn't huge - it must've only been about five or six inches - but a trail of blood was seeping down the ball of my foot and onto my ankle. A sharp pain shot up my foot, and I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't do anything except ignore it.

My hands were freezing. I already felt them loosing feeling, the circulation being cut off, getting that tingly feeling all over. You know, when you feel like there are little dots dancing all around your palm, but when you actually touch it, they feel fat, huge, and bulky, as if you had grown or gained weight. I absolutely hated the feeling, because it happened to me so often. I shook my hands, trying to dismiss the feeling. I eyed the blood pouring down my foot, the glass wedged inside, and I took another deep breath before grabbing the glass and yanking it out with all of my might.

It happened so fast that I barely felt anything. Of course, the blood was now gushing down the ball of my foot, and the gash where the glass had once been now hurt like bloody hell, but like always, I tried to ignore it. I attempted to push myself off of the ground without putting pressure on my left foot, the foot where the glass had been wedged in. After trying for about ten minutes, probably more, I finally pushed myself off of the ground and tried to listen for Nina.

I sighed, and closed my eyes. Mr. Sweet had told us in science class about the five senses a few weeks ago. He told us that sight dominates the senses, so the other four aren't as strong. He told us that if we closed our eyes, we'd be able to hear more clearly, taste a food or an object, locate or name a smell more accurately, and the same goes for touch - we'd feel the item and be able to name it quicker and more accurately. Right now I was trying to hear Nina, because obviously I couldn't see her with this solid, deep, and chunky fog in the way, so I closed my eyes.

In the distance, I heard groaning, mumbling, moaning, and muttering. I released a small smile from my lips and murmured, "bingo," to myself. I hopped on one foot towards the sound, hoping with every fiber of my being that the sound would belong to Nina.

Only a few seconds later, I learned that the sound did belong to Nina. But something terrible was happening, I could tell. Her hair, the natural dirty blonde it usually was, had red streaks in it. Another inference I made was that Nina might have been painting - her fingers and hands were completely drenched in red paint, with a touch of purple mixed in with the red. In Nina's right hand she held a paintbrush, trying to paint her arm as well. Some of the red paint was dripping vertically down her left arm, and Nina sat there, in her white dress that was now also covered in red paint. But where could have Nina gotten a hold of this red paint in Shadowland?

My eyes widened as I took in the scene one more time. The red coloring wasn't paint. It was blood. The "paint" on her hands, fingers, and arms was blood, and her "paintbrush" was a sharp piece of glass. She wasn't painting her wrist.

Nina was cutting her wrist.

"SHIT, NINA!" I screamed. I completely ignored the factor of my foot, which was now screaming in pain as I ran on the freezing cold ground toward my girlfriend. Nina could hurt herself in the two worst ways possible; she could sink into depression and hate herself; or worse, kill herself. If Nina did kill herself, I wouldn't be able to take it. It would be my fault that she was dead, my fault that she cut her wrist; and not even horizontal, like the others. No, I'd seen how other people did that. They cut vertical, because doctors couldn't stitch it up. If they cut a major vein, and allowed it to bleed, bleeding themselves out, and killing themselves.

And now, judging by the amount of blood pouring out of her wrist and onto her arm, she might've cut a vein. And nothing on Earth could be worse if she had.

Nina flung her head around to face me, after hearing my voice. She revealed her tear-streaked face. Her cheeks were completely drenched, almost as if she had dunked her head in a bucket of water, but this time her cheeks were drenched in tears. Her eyes, which were normally full of curiosity and excitement, were now full of terror, anger, and hatred.

I couldn't detect where the hatred was aimed at. There were multiple possibilities: at Shadowland, at the Man In Red, at herself, or even possibly at me. She could hate me right now because I was interrupting her attempt. Normally, I would've been offended and embarrassed that she hated me; but now wasn't the time to be embarrassed or offended. I had to stop Nina.

Ignoring the shooting, ghastly pain in my foot, I finally arrived at Nina's side. I skidded to a stop, and only only one millisecond later, I slammed my hand against her wrist.

Nina shut her eyes tightly and winced. I could do nothing but stare at her, while finally taking in one last breath, collecting all of my breath back from when I lost it while sprinting toward my girlfriend who was dragging a piece of glass across her wrist trying to kill herself in a dream that might kill all of us.

Yeah, my life is just pleasant.

I took in one last collective gasp, and just simply stared at my girlfriend, waiting for her to open her eyes. I was breathing in and out, watching my breath in the chilly frigid air when blue met green.

Nina said nothing. I said nothing. There was silence as we stared into each others eyes. The green pair was blood-red from crying, and the blue pair was full of concern. The owner of the blue ones finally broke the silence by mumbling, "why?"

Nina opened her mouth to start speaking, but I cut her off by saying, "Not good enough!" and I kissed her.

It was nothing intimate, nothing inappropriate. In fact, at the time, it was quite appropriate. The kiss showed that there was someone in this world that loved her and cared for her and missed her. Was that why she cut herself? Did she really think no one cared about her? Did she really think that Sibuna didn't give a flying eff about her, and that we just continued on normally with our lives? Did she honestly think that we weren't trying with every fiber of her being to rescue her? What on Earth could've made her think like that?

I had a pretty good idea, but I kept it to myself. I pulled away from our kiss, and stared at Nina again. Her cheeks were still soaked, and her lower lip was trembling. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that she was on the verge of breaking down. I was slowly shaking my head to myself, thinking about why she would do what she just did. I met Nina's eyes again, and only two seconds later, she cracked.

Nina Martin finally cracked. She gave in, collapsing into me. She sobbed into my shirt, and I placed my left hand around her waist, and my right hand on her neck, holding her close to me. She sobbed uncontrollably, and I could do nothing but hold her as she bawled. She took shaky breathes in between sobs, gasping for breath. She was mumbling something to me, but I couldn't understand her. Her face was buried in my shirt.

I had never paid much attention to my outfit before. But now, as I stared down at the crying form of my girlfriend, I couldn't help but notice my clothing. I was wearing a plain, bland ocean-blue t-shirt, black boot-cut jeans, and black sneakers with green laces. On the wrist of my right hand, the one I was holding Nina's neck with, was the bracelet I had received from my grave. I still had no idea what my bracelet meant for me, but I guessed I would find out soon enough.

Nina was still mumbling, but this time I could actually catch something - "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I'm so, so, so sorry. It's all my fault," she gasped, . I'm so sorry for dragging you all into this. Oh, God, Fabian, he's so wrong."

Nina hiccuped again, slowly slithered out of my grasp, and backed up two feet. I blinked. Was she trying to escape from me? I honestly hoped she didn't think I was a threat. I was her boyfriend, her best friend, and her partner in crime. We did everything together. I was, in no way shape or form her enemy.

Nina winced, as if someone had just punched her in her stomach. It pained me to see her like this. I was mentally forming an idea of what was happening, and so far, my thoughts were not looking good one bit.

I glanced down at her wrist. Blood was pouring from the gash, down her forearm and onto her hand. In her right hand held a piece of glass, but she looked like she was in pain just by holding the glass. I blinked, trying to see her right hand more clearly, and I saw something purple. The purple paint that I had seen before was really a bruise.

Oh, God, was that bruise horrible. There was tiny gash near her thumb, as if something had cut it, but I knew Nina wasn't responsible for that. The bruise itself was purple and red, and it was huge. Her knuckles were bruised, and they looked bent at an extremely painful angle. Her thumb and the bone above that were also extremely bruised, probably the worst spot in her hand. How had she gotten that bruise? And more importantly, how had she gotten the glass used to cut her wrist?

"Nina . . ." I sighed, and moved my arm to brush hers.

As soon as they made contact, Nina whimpered and jumped back another two feet. "Don't touch me," she hissed under her breath. Nina was still eying the ground, but I could tell that her nasty tone of voice was ultimately aimed at me.

"Did I do something?" I muttered. "Did I do something to make you do this? Is it my fault?"

"No," Nina whispered, "it was never your fault." a single tear slid down her cheek.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell, fight, thrash, and run away. But I knew I couldn't do that. Nina was trapped in Shadowland, so I had to take up responsibility as the leader. I wasn't fit to be a leader, but Sibuna was counting on me to make things right again. This was my destiny.

My eyes trailed over to the bleeding gash on her wrist. Since she slashed her wrist open vertically, drops of blood were falling down both sides of her arm, completely dousing it in blood. I clenched my teeth together to keep from yelling at Nina. I just remembered that she had tried to take herself away from us at Anubis House, putting an end to the search for her and the truth to the dreams permanently.

That was not acceptable.

"This has to stop." I muttered.

"What?" Nina said softly, slowly glancing up from the stone pavement, her bloodshot green eyes meeting my blue ones.

"This is going to stop," I announced with more confidence. _I was the leader. _I had to play my part. "Nina, I'm going to help you. But this has to stop. You have to promise me that you'll never do this again. Promise that you'll never think like this again. Promise that you'll continue sending us dreams, no matter what happens. Don't let anyone stop you."

I held out my pinkie finger. "Do you promise?"

Nina hesitantly latched her pinkie finger onto mine, and we agreed on the promise. Little did I know that the promise we just made would come back to haunt me only a few months later.

"You have to know that we're going to be there for you," I said, "no matter what. Sibuna solved the mystery of the Cup of Ankh last year. Now we're going to solve this mystery now. You saved Joy, and now we're going to save you. Don't give up. No matter what, I love you."

Nina smiled as another tear escaped her eye and slid down her face. "I love you too. But it was all just too unbearable. I couldn't stand the thought of putting you and Sibuna into any more danger than you already are in." she admitted, and shrugged. She gave me a weak smile, and I could tell she was trying to stay strong for me.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and luckily, she didn't cringe away. "Nina, exactly how much danger are we in? I know the Man In Red wants to get a hold of us, but what you're saying makes it seem like there's more than that. Is it like . . . _close-to-death_ danger?"

Nina nodded, and sniffled before saying, "Yeah. That's exactly why I wanted to leave, so you'd never have to see me again, and the Man In Red wouldn't have me as a pawn anymore." her voice broke on the word _anymore_.

Suddenly, I remembered what the Man In Red had told us only one day ago - something that he only needed Nina to get to us. So many thoughts were running through my mind at once, I had trouble keeping track of them. There was the question of who the Man In Red really is, what our powers do to us, and how to save Nina.

I asked Nina these questions. She had stopped crying, but she still seemed slightly shaken up. She wouldn't answer me for a moment, so I embraced her in a hug. Nina laid her head on my shoulder, and for a moment we just stood there, completely content. I wouldn't let Nina go, not after what she'd done. I couldn't let her go. She might go off and do something stupid, like the thing she had just attempted. I wouldn't even think of that.

She finally answered after another few moments. "I don't know how you can save me," she answered, "but I know that these dreams help. I also know that using your powers will help you as well. To answer your question about your powers, each of you has a separate ability that helps you more than you realize. I can't tell you what your power is yet, Fabian. You know currently that Amber is the One Who Can See, and Patricia is the One Who Can Hear. They have similar names, which means they have to work together. They're partners. I know they might not be best buddies, but if you guys want to end this quest once and for all, Fabian, you'll have to make sure they bond. It's important."

Well, that was definitely true. Amber and Patricia had been at the boarding school since they were eleven. They'd always fought and disagreed, which was why Trudy never wanted them to share a room. Of course they'd talked, and sometimes there were rare days when they got along. They'd never been best buddies, and they'd NEVER worked well with each other.

Now, of course, I had another duty. I had to make sure Amber and Patricia became best friends in order to save Nina. Thinking about, it was practically impossible. Amber and Patricia would _never_ be able to get along. They're two completely different people.

It looked like I'd have to complete yet another impossible task.

"Of course," I assured her. "I'll try my hardest."

I was disappointed that she couldn't tell me what my power was, but I knew I'd find it out in time. I silently swore to myself that as soon as this dream ended, I'd make a new journal entry with the clues that Nina has told us over the course of the past three weeks.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" I asked hopefully.

Nina seemed to ponder this. "The Man In Red is very suspicious."

I felt like saying, _Uh, DUH_, but I restricted myself. I knew that the comment wasn't necessary, and would only hurt Nina's feelings. I was about to say something, but Nina interrupted me by inserting, "There's more to him than meets the eye. I don't know who he really is, but he gives off vibes. Fabian . . . I get the feeling that someone new is about to come into the search. I think you may have to make room at Anubis House."

_Someone new was coming._ "Okay." I mused. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Nina blinked. "Both," she whispered. She looked completely lost in thought, staring into space. "There's a boy _and_ a girl, two different people."

"Do you think two new people are coming in? The Houses are only allowed occupancy for eight. Maybe . . . maybe they won't live in Anubis?" I ventured.

"No, they will live in Anubis." Nina said, still lost in thought. She blinked, shook her head violently, and finally seemed to come out of her trance. "They'll live there. They're coming, Fabian. They'll cause trouble, but they're essential to the search. They'll cause pain and misery. See, this is _exactly _why I wanted to kill myself!" she screamed, and then crouched down onto the ground. She fell over, sitting on her knees, and buried her face into her hands.

I sighed miserably. I hated seeing her like this. All I wanted was to wake up on the morning of October 17th. This whole thing would be one whole dream. Having these dreams, would be one whole dream in all. One huge nightmare.

Unfortunately, I knew that wasn't true. I sighed once more, biting my lower lips, holding back a cry of my own. I kneeled down next to Nina and once again embraced her in a hug. She gripped my shirt, holding on for dear life, and just sobbed as I held her.

Her sobs were so heartbreaking, I don't even want to go into details. My hand was on the back of her neck, holding her close. As she cried, I vowed that I'd try my hardest to save her. We'd destroy the Man In Red, and get her back. Everything would go back to normal.

I knew I'd made an impossible promise, but it was the least I could do. I listened to the muffled sobs of Nina as I closed my eyes and thought of anything but the horrible sounds of my crying best friend beneath me.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - I'm just sitting here in my corner, crying, eating my blue cupcake. Why, you may ask? Because it's my anniversary. Yes, exactly one year ago, I joined this website. Why not wish me a happy anniversary, please? :3  
>. . . forever alone.<br>Seriously tho, it's almost been two months since I last updated. I'm going to jump off a cliff now.  
><strong>


	22. Glass Eyes

**A/N - So it's 1:22 a.m. and I'm up writing chapter 22 of Don't Be Afraid.  
>*insert I Regret Nothing gif here*<br>Have a sparkling day!  
>~Julianna<br>**

* * *

><p><strong>Unknown<br>Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 5:32 a.m.  
><strong>

_I'll meet you at the airport  
><em>

That's what the note said. No details, no punctuation . . . not even a signature. How could the person who wrote the note expect me to meet him at the airport, when I don't have the slightest idea who he is?

I rolled my suitcase along with me through the plane tunnel, one earphone in my ear and the other dangling on my shoulder. My iPod was playing a song by Sick Puppies, but I didn't really think about that. I had a feeling who the sender of the note would be, and I wasn't happy about it.

After all, why else would my mother send me over to Liverpool? She told me two days ago, on Halloween afternoon, that I'd fly to Liverpool in two days time. She hadn't explained much at the time. In fact, she never did. But I knew. She couldn't hide everything from me. I mean, the least she could do was delete her phone records.

I wasn't happy about this. I'd never be happy. I didn't want to come to Liverpool. I wanted to stay with my mother and live a quiet life in the suburbs surrounded by those people I call my "friends". I'd probably never see them again. But that's okay, because 'I'd make new friends' and 'this new life will be good for me'. My mother doesn't know anything about me, apparently.

I didn't care about the note. I was going to go the school, settle down in one of those "Houses" and just wait until my mother came to pick me up. I knew she'd come and take me home sometime.

I was about to throw the note away in the waste bin when someone tapped my on shoulder. I jumped and turned around, holding my arms out to defend myself. I was holding them in an "X" formation so I couldn't see the person who had touched my shoulder.

"It's fine," the person said. They had a deep, buff voice, so I suspected the voice belonged to a guy. "I'm not going to hurt you, son. Trust me."

I unfolded my X formation and let my arms fall down to my sides. When I saw the man, I scowled. I was expecting this, yet when I saw his face I was surprised.

I had only seen his face in pictures. My mother and him had divorced when I was young, and my mother got full custody of me. All my life, I had been dreaming of this moment. I had never thought it would turn out like this.

"You," I growled.

The man sighed. "I know you must be mad at me, but that's okay. It's understandable. But, son, you must come with me. It's important." The look in his eyes was pleading, as if he expected me to actually come with him.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I'm not going anywhere with _you_. I can't believe, after all this time, you just expect me to _follow_ you! It's not gonna happen, buddy. I know you were the person who sent me the note."

He blinked. A look of confusion suddenly crossed his face, as if he just realized I wasn't cooperating with him. "How did you know I sent the note? You've never –"

"I've seen handwriting samples before." I explained.

The man shook his head, dismissing the thought. "That's besides the point. The point is, you need to come with me."

"And why would I do that?" I said. I knew I was just trying to pick a fight, and I knew I was annoying this man, but he deserved it. He left me, after all.

He groaned. "Look, son, I –"

"Don't call me your son," I growled through clenched teeth, interrupting him yet again. "I am not your son. You are not my father. Just leave me alone. Now, if you can give me directions to this school I'm headed to, that would be great."

He chuckled lightly to himself. "Well, boy, I would, but I'm afraid we're both going there, so it would be no use to give you directions."

My eyes moved from his face down to his jacket, where I noticed a small button pinned to his jacket. My stomach plummeted. "You have got to be kidding me."

The man smirked. "Now, since you have no money, no sense of direction, and no transportation, it's evident you have to come with me."

He walked away, but I just folded my arms, put my other headphone back in my ear, and stood my ground. I knew I was being stubborn and acting like a little six-year old, but I didn't care. I wasn't going anywhere with this man who I was supposed to call "Dad".

The man turned around, and when he saw me standing my ground, he sighed again. He began to walk towards me, slowly taking something out of his pocket. "I'm so ashamed it had to come to this. But I suppose it is the only way."

"What are you doing?" I asked and unfolded my arms. I was beginning to back away when I realized what he was doing, but it was too late when I saw the rag cover my vision, and everything suddenly went black.

**xXx**

I woke up on the couch in some room. I sat up straight, and immediately my head started to ache. I put my hand to my forehead, and was surprised to pull away quickly when I realized that my forehead was freezing cold. **  
><strong>

"Crap," I muttered to myself, slowly placing the back of my hand to my forehead again. My sight was clouded, so I couldn't see the room around me. Eventually, after many tries of attempting to keep my hand on my freezing cold head and blinking to clear my vision, the room became clear.

I was on a worn-out beige couch. There were rips and tears covering the whole interior of the cloth, and I was pretty sure there was a huge hole where my butt was, because my top half was sagging. My feet almost touched the other end of the couch, and that's when I realized I was lying down.

I slowly sat up, and I became aware of my surroundings. The lights were turned off, obviously, because it took a moment for my eyes to get accustomed to the darkness. Eventually I saw the cobwebs, covering every inch of the walls; the cracks in the floors and the walls; the dark green paint that was peeling off of the walls. This room was run down, to the extreme.

I was just about to push myself off of the couch when a figure walked in from another room. I thought it would be my father again, but when I saw a small, petite figure with a white dress approach, my scowl lessened.

"I'm not very good at this nurse thing," the girl admitted. "And I had no idea what to do with a guy that just showed up here in the middle of the night, so I put an icepack on your forehead. I'm sorry if it's freezing cold now." she apologized.

"Yeah, it was. . . . but I guess it's okay." I said.

The girl walked forward, and I could finally see her without darkness clouding my vision. The girl was small, compared to some other girls I'd seen. She had dirty-blonde hair and pale green eyes – but there was more to her eyes. They were fragile – like glass. One small slip, and they'll shatter on impact.

The girl with glass eyes met my gaze. Her expression showed confusion, concern, and hopefulness. I wasn't sure what her hope was for. She definitely wasn't hoping for me. The concern I detected, however – I at least _hoped_ that was toward me, the apparent boy she'd found unconscious in the middle of the night. I hoped she was concerned for my health. No doubt she would be confused.

The small girl chuckled to herself. She was wearing a white dress, one that flown down to her ankles. It was pure white, but I detected some stains in it. Red coloring . . . possibly a hint of purple. Where could the colors have come from? Did she like to paint?

The girl with glass eyes sat down next to me, on the left. I trailed along her body, ending at her hand. I forced myself to keep my jaw shut. On her hand, there was a horrible bruise. Just from looking at it, I could tell it was painful. All of her five knuckles were bruised, as if she had punched something and it had cut her hand. There was tiny gash just above her thumb, so the thing she punched must've cut her. Around the tiny gash was the heart was the bruise. It was a horrible shade of purple and red, swelling on sight, the thickness elongating.

I winced. Just looking at that bruise caused me pain. I couldn't imagine how painful that would feel.

The girl with glass eyes sighed. She laced her hands together and when she moved her left arm, I could see something in her underarm – was that a cut? – but the thought was quickly dismissed, as the girl started to talk. "Well, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Nina. What's yours?"

Nina's glass eyes were suddenly full of life, but it seemed forced to me. It seemed as if she was forcing herself to be happy. Maybe even for someone's else's happiness. I knew that all too well.

I smirked. "My name is Eddison. But you can call me Eddie."

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 4:35 a.m.**

The dream ended soon after that. I bolt upright in bed, jolting my eyes open. I saw the interior of my room, along with Mick stirring in his sleep only thirty meters away from me.**  
><strong>

I was breathing heavily, trying to collect my breath after realizing what had just happened. Nina had just tried to kill herself. She tried to end the search permanently. And that was not okay.

I was about to try to contact her again when Mick sat up in his bed. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the sleep out of them. I was silently praying that he wouldn't notice me and go back to sleep, but he groaned and flipped over, facing me. "Fabian?" he whispered. "Are you okay?"

I was about to lie and say that I just woke up, but then I remembered that Mick was a part of Sibuna. He knew about the dreams. As much as I wanted to keep the dreams a secret, I couldn't. Mick was my best friend. I wouldn't keep any more secrets from him.

I sighed, and shook my head. "No, Mick, I don't think I am. I had a dream."

Mick's eyes widened, and he sat up straighter. "Like, those dreams you keep talking about? You actually had one?"

I nodded. Mick asked, "Can I hear about it?" and I gestured for him to come over. He threw the blankets off of his body, and sat down on the edge of my bed. I crawled over to his side.

When I reached his side, I was having second thoughts. How could I tell him that Nina had just attempted suicide? I couldn't come out and say it.

My mom once told me that lying was bad, but sometimes it was necessary to protect the ones we love. If I told Mick what just happened, Nina would never forgive me. Besides, I don't think Mick would be able to handle the information. He was new to Sibuna, while everyone else had been in the club since last year.

Mick was regarding me with a look of suspicion and concern. I sighed once again. I knew I had to lie. I told Mick about the _last_ dream I had, the one before I just had. Mick gave me his full attention, which was surprising considering it was four a.m. Usually Mick is still groggy at ten a.m.

I felt horrible lying to my best friend, but I knew it was necessary. I was protecting two people I love. For a moment I thought my lies weren't convincing, but then I reminded myself of Nina's horrible lies, and it made me feel better. You know . . . I was still getting over the fact that she was an amateur taxidermist.

"Oh," Mick murmured. He regarded Nina's locket sitting in my hands, still glowing. It hadn't stopped glowing since we found it on October 18th, the second day of Nina's disappearance. Maybe the glowing was some kind of signal . . .

A light bulb was flicked on in my head. _A signal. _On October 28th, Nina had given me a dream, and she had told me that the locket was some kind of signal. What if she meant the glow coming from the locket?

I had to write this all down, or I'd lose track of everything. "Hey, Mick, I'm kind of tired. We still have . . ." I checked the time on my calculator watch. "We still have about two more hours to sleep. If I know you, you're still tired."

He yawned. "Yeah. I'm exhausted. Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked me.

"I'm sure," I promised. "I've had these dreams before, remember? It'll be fine."

Mick pushed himself off of the edge of my bed, but as soon as he stood on the ground, he shifted around uncomfortably. "Hey, Fabian – about these dreams . . . do you think – do you think I'll get a dream? Because if I'm being completely honest, I don't think I'm ready for one. I'm new to this whole Sibuna thing, and . . . they seem kind of dangerous."

There was so many things I could have said in response to that. But the only thing I said was: "They're fine. Really. Now we better get some sleep."

I watched Mick crawl back into his bed, grab the covers, and pull them up to his neck. He shuffled around in his bed, faced the wall, and let out a huge sigh. He'd fallen asleep.

I waited a few extra minutes, just to make sure he was really asleep. I slowly moved my body and pushed myself off of my bed, and tiptoed over to my rucksack. I rustled my hand around inside, trying to touch my notebook. I sighed with relief when I picked up the black book, then I quickly pounced to my bed again. I opened my Dream Log to the last entry.

I was surprised to see that the latest entry wasn't from me. It was in neat cursive handwriting, and from the hearts substituting as dots on her "i"s, I presumed the author was Amber. She had told me she was going to write an entry yesterday afternoon, but I wasn't exactly sure when she was going to do it.

After Jerome finished telling me about his adventure with Nina and the Man In Red, we woke Trudy up, and she made us go to school. We were all marked as "late", but we didn't care. We'd all gone through hell only a few hours before, while the Man In Red was torturing us. I suppose after school ended Amber got a hold of my journal and wrote her entry.

Her handwriting was small, so I could barely see it in the dim red glow of Nina's locket. But after my eyes adjusted to the tiny size of Amber's handwriting, I read her entry.

_Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 3:30 p.m.  
><em>_I'm new to this whole "Dream Log" thing, so bear with me. I'm not sure how Fabian does it, as I was too lazy to read his previous entries, so I'm doing it my way. You'll just have to deal with that.  
>Anyway, yes, I had a dream earlier. I was quite disappointed with it. Fabian's dreams consisted of seeing Nina, hearing clues, and some dramatic exit. All I got was a horrible experience. I saw Shadowland for the first time <em>– _that's what Fabian and I call "that place" now_ – _and all I saw was Nina's back. I tried calling out to her, but I couldn't hear my voice. I had a horrible feeling I was going deaf again, but before I could respond to that horrible discovery, Nina turned around. There wasn't anything unusual about her . . . except for her eye color. My eye color is grey. Fabian's eye color is blue. Nina's eye color is green._ _But in my dream, her eyes weren't green.__ They were crimson red, the same shade of red as that fireball, The Man In Red.  
>Fabian told me later that the Man In Red possessed Nina, like he did with Jason, but she was okay. I wouldn't know, though, considering after I saw her eyes the dream ended. Seriously, Nina? You give me a dream showing me your eye color? How is that a clue?<br>Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's a clue because now we know the Man In Red can possess people. Newsflash, Fabian, we already knew that.  
>But anyway, what am I supposed to write now? My feelings? If this ends up being a diary, than . . . well, I always wanted a diary. But Fabian already made the title "Sibuna's Dream Log". So I guess it isn't a diary. If I am supposed to tell my feelings, well, I'm scared. That's how I'm feeling. I'm scared for what's to happen between us and the Man In Red, and I'm scared for Nina. I don't even know if she's okay or not.<br>Sincerely,  
>Amber<em>

After I finished reading Amber's entry, I hesitated on writing my own. If I wrote about Nina's suicide attempt, then everyone in Sibuna would know. Mick would be disappointed that I lied to him, and Amber would be devastated to learn that one of her best friends had tried to kill herself. I couldn't upset the only friends I had.

But I had to keep track of this dream. Yesterday night, a new notebook came in the mail. Since I _still_ didn't have a notebook for History class, I had ordered one off of a website. Yesterday, in school, Mr. Winkler wasn't there for History class or Drama class. He was dumped from the Man In Red's body on Halloween night. Nina wasn't sure if he was dead or alive. We had a substitute teacher yesterday, who told us we'd get a new permanent teacher tomorrow.

Tomorrow was today. We were getting a new teacher tomorrow.

Something about that made me suspicious. How had Mr. Sweet replaced Mr. Winkler so fast? It had only been a day since he was "dumped". Did the teachers know that Jason was going to leave the body of the Man In Red? Did they know about the Man? And who was this new teacher we were getting?_  
><em>

So many questions were bouncing around in my skull. I had to write them all down before I lost them, so I shook my dominant hand, relieving the tension, and began writing my entry.

_Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 4:53 a.m.  
><em>_Note to Amber: Nina's fine. She's alive and well in Shadowland. She's just a bit shaken up, but I'm sure she'll get better.  
>I suppose this is Sibuna's Dream Log now, and not just mine. Well, Amber, thank you for that bit. Now it reads <strong>Sibuna's <strong>Dream Log because you scribbled over the yellow marker with a purple one. At least you didn't make it pink . . .  
>To whoever's reading this:<em>_ don't get your hopes up about having a dream. For one thing, they're terrifying. And two, Nina's only been gone for three weeks. In those three weeks, I have received six dreams, and Amber's received one. In total, that's seven dreams. Seven dreams in twenty-two days. If any of you actually want a dream (which I highly doubt), then you'll possibly have to wait.  
>Yes, if you're wondering, I had a dream last night. Patricia, if you're reading this, I have some things to discuss with you. Here's a heads-up, though <em>–_ you'll need to get along with Amber. Yeah, bask in the horror of that sentence.  
>Oh, and Nina also said that two new people are coming to Anubis House. A boy and a girl. I have this suspicion about who the girl could be, but I don't know about the boy . . .<br>I have some new info. Remember when Nina told me that her locket was some sort of signal? I think I have an idea about that, too. We'll hold a Sibuna meeting later.  
>Sincerely,<br>Fabian_

I set the pen down and began to close my notebook. I was still peeved off at Amber scribbling over my wording. The letter "I" in "Sibuna" had a heart where the dot should be. I rolled my eyes, but I wasn't really mad. There were more important matters to worry about.

**xXx**

It just so happened to turn out as the worst day of school ever.**  
><strong>

There were many factors adding up to that. I'll give you the basic gist - Amber was deaf and Patricia was blind. Mick pestered me all day to give him more information of my dream. We got a horrible new Drama/History teacher. And we also got a new student that was just so ironically arranged to live at Anubis House.

Here's how the day went down.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Heh. Next chapter will be Sibuna's adventures at school, and MORE EDDIE! xD  
>I have to admit, I didn't like Eddie at first, but the little shit grew on me. xD Prepare to read more about him and his adventures at the wonderous, mysterious Anubis House! :D<br>Have a sparkling day!  
>~Julianna<strong>


	23. She Promised

_"I will not give up; on Sarah, the quest, and certainly not on you."_

* * *

><p>He told her wouldn't give up on her, and she believed it.<p>

It was true, of course. He's an honest person. He doesn't lie. When he makes a promise, he keeps it.

He was a fool to trust her. He made her make a promise, and she was about to break it. She didn't like breaking things; breaking promises, breaking hearts . . . she wasn't kidding last term when she said she was a curse.

She could leave right now, if she wanted to. She could break his promise and his heart. But she wouldn't. He told her he wouldn't give up on her . . . and she promised.

She promised.

She sat on the ground near the bottom of the stairs, just in front of the fog that lead somewhere. She was silent as she waited for him to come back, but it wasn't _him_, the one with the promise. It was someone different, someone new. Someone who brought hope.

She had no hope. She gave up hope a long time ago. They said they would find her, they would save her. But she knew they would never help her. She had no hope.

But then came the boy, the new boy, the one who brought hope. She found him unconscious. She cared for him. He radiated power, possibilities. She gained hope. He gave her hope.

But then he was gone, without a word. Gone. He didn't even say goodbye. As they talked, her fake smile began to fade and her real one began to show. Hope. She was gaining hope.

But she knew there was a reason she lost her hope in the first place.

Her new friend was gone. He left. He jumped up and ran into the fog, and he was yet to return. She knew she wasn't allowed to go through the fog. Probably wasn't even able to. So she sat in front of the fog, and waited, waited, waited . . .

Waited. It was all she did. She waited for him to come back, even though she knew deep down he would never return. Her hope was gone once again but she would never stop waiting.

She wasn't crying. She supposed she wasn't warm enough to cry. The wind outside was cold, bitter, and biting. It threw her hair wildly around her face, but she didn't notice. Her pale green eyes were dry, dirty, vacant. Empty. There was a body there but no soul to occupy them. She needed hope. Hope was like fuel, it gave people energy and the actual willingness to do the things they love. Hope was people's fuel but she was out of it. No hope. She had no hope. She'd rather be dead; but she couldn't be dead. She promised.

She promised.

She told herself _It's useless, he's not coming back_, but there was small part inside of her that really wanted him to come back. She'd been alone here for almost three weeks now. She'd never admit it to her friends, but she was miserable here. She was lonely. She wanted a friend, so when the new boy came along she was beyond happy. But he left, he was gone.

He was gone. Her mom and dad were gone. Her grandmother was gone. Her friends were gone. Everyone was gone.

It happened so quickly, she doesn't even remember it happening. One second, she was sitting on the ground, waiting for the boy with hope to come back, and the next she sat on the ground, but this time she held a piece of glass in her hand. It was the same exact piece that she used to cut her wrist yesterday, when she was trying to kill herself.

She could admit it, yes. She was trying to kill herself. That was exactly what she was trying to do. But she'd never admit it to her friends. She'd never tell them the truth about why she had that gruesome cut on her arm that trailed from her wrist to her elbow. The cut was still fresh.

If she closed her eyes, she could still feel the blood trickling down her arm and falling down onto the concrete. She could feel the sharp, jagged point from the glass piece cut into her arm, and she could feel the relief that came from cutting. She could feel the pain, the pain that she deserved. She could look at the cut right now and she wouldn't regret making it. She deserved that cut. She deserved to die. Her friends would never understand why she did it. They'd never understand self-harm, because they'd never done it.

But she'd understand. She'd done it. She'd deserved it, but she hadn't died. Even though she'd cut vertically, like she'd heard, it didn't kill her.

But _he_ caught her, the one with the promise. He'd caught sight of what she was attempting to do and he'd stopped her. She'd thrashed, protested, and was flat out mean to him. He'd caught her in a bad moment, but he didn't run away. He stayed, and he'd talked it out with her.

He made her promise to stop thinking like that. He made her promise to keep sending them dreams. He made her promise to keep herself _alive_.

And that was the only reason she was still here. She promised.

She promised.

She eyed the glass in her hand, and knew she couldn't do it again. She'd been planning to cut her wrist again, to try to leave again, but she reminded herself of the promise. The promise that her boyfriend, the boy she loved with all her heart, made her do. She couldn't cut. She loved him too much.

She slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, pushed herself off of the ground, and suddenly she could feel the wind. It was the strongest wind she had felt in years. It was pushing her hair everywhere, covering her vacant, empty eyes. Her white dress blew along with it like those dramatic movies.

She eyed the glass in her hand once more with her glass eyes, and closed her hand. She could feel her nails digging into her skin.

And she started to cry.

She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. She let herself cry, just this once. She was strong for too long, and she needed to let everything else out. She collapsed on the floor, sitting on the floor once again and she placed her head between her legs and continued to cry. She was sobbing, shaking uncontrollably, but there was no one here for her this time.

She was alone. She could hear her sobs as she cried, sobs for someone to come and hold her, but there was no one. Everyone was gone.

Fabian, Amber, Patricia, Alfie, Jerome, Mick, and Mara. They were all gone. They weren't here. She was alone, by herself. Alone.

As much as she wanted to do it, she couldn't. There was so much pain inside of her, pain which would never show on her face. If she ever made it back to Anubis House, she'd act like nothing ever happened. Her pain would stay bottled up. There was so much pain that she was tempted, but she could never make herself . . . she . . . she promised . . .

And so she pushed herself off of the ground again. Her eyes were red, so full of pain that would never be shown to anyone but herself. She couldn't cut again. She promised. Her pain couldn't stay bottled up, not now . . .

She walked, ever so slowly, to the glass windows in front of the house. The wind continually blew her hair and dress wildly, but she ignored it as she walked to the windows. And she looked in the mirror.

And she saw herself.

But all she saw was a despicable, shameful person who did nothing but destroy. She looked that same person in the eyes. She looked at herself and all she saw was a girl she hated. As much as she told herself she hated the person who killed her parents more than anything, she knew now that wasn't true. She hated herself the most.

She was shaking now. She hated herself _so much_. She was horrible.

She couldn't handle it anymore. She was trembling, but it wasn't because of the cold. It was because of the reflection in the mirror, the one she couldn't even stand to look at. The reflection was so horrible, so appalling, that she brought back her fist and swung it at the mirror.

It broke, the glass shattering into tiny little pieces on the ground. Her knuckles were bleeding, the blood seeping down her fingers, but she ignored the stinging pain and screamed.

She let out all the pain there was, the pain that was bottled up inside her. The shriek that comes from her is the loudest she's ever uttered. There's so much pain that needed to be released, and she was releasing it into a scream.

She was having a breakdown. She couldn't handle it anymore. It was all too much.

Her screams continued, her desperate cry for help. There was no one around, not even the Man in Red. She was alone, as she had always been. Her yell, her howl, continued. It continued until all the air was out from her lungs, and when it was she just started crying again.

But she wouldn't kill herself. She wouldn't even consider it. She would never look at an object with a jagged point for more than a second. She wouldn't think about cutting.

Nina Martin promised.

She promised . . .

She promised.

* * *

><p><strong><em>I just ran out of bandaids  / I don't even know where to start / / 'Cause you can't bandage the damage / / You never really can fix a heart / /  
><em>**

* * *

><p><strong><em>It's always have and never hold  / You've begun to feel like home / / I'll look after you . . . / /  
><em>**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 9:32 a.m._  
><em>**

I hadn't told them yet. **  
><strong>

We were walking to school together, Sibuna and I. Mick was actually interested in that story about the police, so Patricia was explaining. Her face turned from boredom to ecstasy in less than a microsecond. Alfie and Amber were busy holding hands and trying to be one of those "lovey-dovey" couples as Amber put it, so I wasn't bothering them. I was alone as we walked to school.

But that was okay. Sometimes I liked being alone. I could sort out my thoughts and make a plan for what I was going to do later that day or possibly even the next day. Sometimes I even thought of new tunes to play on my guitar.

So being alone was okay, though I would much rather have Nina by my side with me. She would talk about that "boring" stuff with me.

Sibuna really did need to find her. After my dream last night, when I caught her trying to kill herself, I made myself vow to bring Sibuna together and find her so we could end all this. End the dreams, the sleepness nights, the anxiety . . . everything.

All I wanted right now, though, was to know that she was okay.

As we approached the school, I seriously considered grabbing Amber and Patricia and forcing them to bond. Luckily, though, I didn't need to, as they lost their senses in the next two seconds.

They both screamed, though I figured Amber couldn't hear herself screaming, as she was the one who went deaf between the two. The color in Patricia's eyes were already disappearing, as well as the life in them. I hated to see that. It was like Patricia was disappearing along with her sight.

"Fabian, Fabian, Fabian, where are you, oh my God, Fabian . . ." Patricia muttered as she moved her arms around, trying to find me. I made it easier for her by walking up to her and holding her shoulders. I wasn't surprised when she jumped, but obviously she grew to know my touch because she didn't cringe away after that. I was happy about that, at least.

"Patricia, are you okay?" I asked her softly, and she shook her head. "Do you want me to lead you to Amber?"

"What?" she shrieked. "Amber? No! I do not want to go near –" she was cut off as I pushed her towards Amber, the only other girl in Sibuna at the moment. Even though Amber was facing the other direction, she could see we were coming closer (with her newly-acquired super sight), and turned around. Amber was the opposite of Patricia – instead of turning blind, Amber turned deaf. She turned deaf because her sight, one of her senses, was enhanced, so another sense was diminished. The same was for Patricia – because of her super hearing, her sight was not-so-super.

Nina had told me in my dream last night that Patricia and Amber needed to learn to count on each other. I would never understand how that would work, but I had to make do. I ignored Patricia's protests and pushed her over to Amber's side, then linked both of their arms.

As Amber couldn't hear herself talk, she decided against it. She looked at me and tilted her head, saying she was confused. I didn't have a pen or paper, so I took a long shot and stood straight in front of her. We locked eyes, then I mouthed, "_Can you read my lips_?"

Amber perked, shook her head yes and placed her finger on her nose. Since she said she _could_ read my lips, I decided to keep going with mouthing words. "_Amber, I need you to lead Patricia to the school with me and Mick. You're partners now. You need to promise me that you'll stay together and help each other out. You NEED to help each other out. Do you understand_?"

Amber nodded, and I sighed with relief. As Patricia said, "Fabian, where are we going?" I turned around to face Mick, who was obviously confused. "Are you confused?" I asked him.

He simply nodded his head.

I chuckled. "All right, I guess it's time to come clean. About a week ago, we were holding a Sibuna meeting and suddenly Patricia and Amber lost their senses . . ."

"I still think it was the aliens," Alfie murmured behind me.

* * *

><p><em><strong>3rd Person POV<strong>_

Sibuna was marked late, but no one in the club cared. As Amber walked in the doorway with her arm linked with Patricia's, they were silent. Fabian passed the two and mouthed to Amber, "_Keep going. You're doing well_."

Amber sighed. She couldn't believe she had to help Patricia. She had never gotten along with Patricia. They had been friends, but honestly, they couldn't talk to each other for five minutes before both had to resist the urge to strangle each other. But if it meant getting Nina back and ending this dream buisness, Amber would do anything.

She could see Patricia say something beside her, but obviously she couldn't hear it, and she couldn't see her lips correctly because Patricia was standing beside her, not in front of her. She didn't care, though, as she sat down in her seat and carefully tried to position Patricia in the seat.

Amber was afraid to look up. She knew what she would see, but she was terrified. She'd even spoken to Nina about this in person – not a dream, though. Don't even mention that failure of a dream she had – and she still didn't want this to happen. If she was being honest, she didn't want any of this. All she wanted was her friend back and for everything to go back to normal.

How was she supposed to help Patricia?

Amber couldn't hear anything, so scratch talking out of the question. She considered passing notes, but when she sneaked a glance at Patricia and saw the color and life drained from her eyes, and how she staring off into nothingness, she scratched that off the list too. Patricia couldn't even see the note placed in front of her.

_Ugh, Nina_, Amber thought, _why did you have to make this so hard?_

Amber forced herself to look at the front of the room, even though she knew she wouldn't like what she saw. At least Patricia can hear, Amber thought bitterly. As she saw the front of the room, she saw it as she would always see it; Mrs. Andrews in the front of the room, teaching the class how to read and write. The white board was still in its usual place, the desk was still in the corner, and the class room was still full of students. Amber wondered if the others knew Patricia and she lost their senses.

The next thing she knew, Mrs. Andrews was standing in front of Amber's desk. The teacher was on a rampage, obviously screaming at her, but her lips were moving so fast Amber couldn't read them. Not to mention that Amber had only been deaf one time before.

She wanted so desperately to know what Mrs. Andrews was saying, but she couldn't hear. Amber wanted to grab Patricia's hands and try the chant right now, but people would look at her strangely.

The thing that frightened her the most wasn't the fact that she was deaf. Yes, the thought terrified her, and she couldn't imagine living life without hearing, but the fact that Amber couldn't remember a word of the chant is what scared her the most. One week ago, when Amber first recited the chant, she automatically knew every word. She knew it by heart, like you would your favorite song. But now, as she tried to recall it and as hard as she tried, she couldn't remember the chant.

Nina said that she would remember it if Patricia and she joined hands again when their senses were lost. But Fabian once told them that when Patricia and herself lost their senses, it meant Nina's presence was in the room. Her presence meant that the Anubis resident's powers were strengthened. So if Amber's hearing was gone, her sight was enhanced. Nina's presence was close by.

Where was she? If her sight was enhanced, she should be able to see her . . . but as hard as she tried to turn away her attention from the steaming Mrs. Andrews that probably didn't even know she literally couldn't hear her, Amber couldn't see Nina. She wasn't in the room. Amber's only hope in hearing ever again was gone, probably already. She probably left, leaving Patricia and Amber blind and deaf forever.

Some friend she was.

* * *

><p>Patricia's handwriting was <em>beyond<em> sloppy. Even with the fact that Patricia couldn't see her handwriting, it was still sloppy and barely legible. It was now fourth period, the middle of the day. Patricia and Amber were trying to make this new alliance work, but neither of them had the patience to deal with it.

God, was communicating with Patricia hard. They were in the middle of class, so obviously Amber couldn't talk with Patricia. Amber couldn't even hear her own voice. Talking was definitely out of the question.

During passing time before fourth period only a few minutes before, Amber mouthed to Fabian to tell Patricia to write down the information she heard in class, because Amber couldn't hear it herself. After a few protests, Patricia agreed, and Amber immediately regretted it. She knew Patricia's handwriting was sloppy, but she never imagined how sloppy it could possibly be from a blind person.

And unfortunately it didn't occur to her that blind people couldn't see until Amber saw Mr. Sweet walk up to Patricia. He was gaining on them, drawing closer and closer until he was four feet away. Amber turned Patricia's head to the direction Mr. Sweet was in so she wouldn't be looking another direction while he was talking or think that he wasn't talking to her.

Amber couldn't hear what he was saying, but she kept Patricia's head in place while Mr. Sweet scolded her. _It seems all teachers do is scold us_, Amber thought bitterly. Patricia said something, and from the corner of Amber's eye it looked like, "I'm sorry," but she wouldn't know. Mr. Sweet walked away, back to the white board.

* * *

><p>The bell, signaling the end of 7th period rung, and all of the students filed out into the hallways and headed for their last class of the day. But Fabian, Mick, Alfie, Amber, and Patricia stayed behind, in a small corner of the school and talked it out.<p>

Fabian mouthed to Amber, "_There's going to be a new teacher in History class today_."

Amber tilted her head, saying _Why_?

"_Jason, Man in Red, remember?"_

Amber nodded. She watched as Fabian turned the other way to face Patricia.

Patricia was the opposite of Amber. Instead of her sight enhanced, it was diminished and instead of her her hearing being diminished it was enhanced. Amber was being nice to her throughout the day, pointing her in the direction she needed to face so she wasn't looking at some random student was looking at the board and teacher, and Patricia was helping Amber, too. Amber had told her, _Your handwriting is so sloppy!"_ by talking, but it sounded off, all of the letters sounding differently but there was no other way to help her, she knew. Patricia had lost her sight and she couldn't _see_ anything.

She'd never say it but in this position she wished she was switched with Amber. Patricia wanted to be the deaf one, not the blind one. Being blind was a much bigger disadvantage than being deaf.

"Come along, Williamson. It's time to go to class now. Bring Amber along with you."

Patricia groaned and linked her arm through Amber's again. Amber didn't protest, as she saw where she was going, and decided to switch and lead Patricia. Everyone in Sibuna walked in the History classroom where Mr. Winkler used to teach, but no one except Fabian knew there was going to be a new teacher today. But there was something else he didn't know; he didn't know that this teacher would be the key to finding Nina.

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 2:55 p.m.**

I was doing as Nina asked. I was bringing Patricia and Amber together. It was tough, probably beyond tough, but I was doing it. I told them to work as a team, help each other out, and neither seemed to be buddying up together in anything but they were making progress.**  
><strong>

I just wanted both of them to be okay again.

"Last period of the day!" Jerome said as he sat next to me. I eyed him suspiciously; he wanted to join Sibuna, but we wouldn't let him. I knew he was up to something, but I just didn't know what. "Finally. So, Rutter, why is Millington being quiet today?"

"None of your business, weasel!" Patricia yelled from across the room.

Jerome narrowed his eyes and said, "Why could she hear me all the way from across the room?"

"Don't ask," I sighed and placed my bag on the table as I heard the bell ring for class. Just as I wondering when the new teacher would show their face, they walked in.

"Hello, class!" exclaimed a young, pretty, petite woman with auburn hair and full lips. "My name is Ms. Fitzgerald, and I will be your new history and drama teacher!"

Whispers. The whole classroom erupted in whispers and shouts to the teacher, and I think I even heard a whistle from one of the boys of a different house.

"Whoa! Whoa! Everyone calm down. We'll do introductions in a second, because I'd like to get to know all of you! But you should also meet a new student that's coming here at this school!"

I didn't think much of it. New students come to the school all the time. We see new students every year. But what Ms. Fitzgerald said next, I wasn't expecting.

"Who here is from Anubis House?" she asked, and Jerome, Mick, Mara, and Alfie and I raised our hands. Patricia raised hers and then grabbed Amber's arm and raised it along with hers. "Ah, all right," the teacher said, "the new student is going to live in your house."

Many "What?"s and "Huh?" erupted from the group. Alfie piped up, "But we already have a full eight students! We don't have room for another one!"

Ms. Fitzgerald blinked. She looked honestly confused for a moment, but her confusion was quickly wiped away by a laugh. "Don't be silly. Mr. Sweet said one of your students isn't here anymore? Passed away, I heard. So sad. So, you have room."

I had forgotten that all of the teachers thought that Nina was dead. The Man in Red had reported her "death" so no one would look for her anymore. Ms. Fitzgerald continued, "Come on in!" she shouted out the door where the apparent student was waiting. And he walked in.

As it turned out, the new student was a boy. He had dark green eyes and blonde hair that was pushed back in a spike. He had a playful smirk on his face that told me he wasn't afraid to have there was something more to his expression; knowledge. He knew something he shouldn't, and he was going to use it to his advantage. Ms. Fitzgerald introduced him to us, saying my name last.

The new student looked me straight in the eye and said, "Hey, Fabian. My name is Eddie, and I'll be your new roommate."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Did I procrastinate? Hell yeah!  
>But Julianna's back, and she's better than ever. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day~<br>~Me**


	24. To Find Your Way Home

**a/n - alright, it's official. I am 6000% done with computers.  
>Anyway, my lovely followers who are wondering, "How LONG will this story be?" I can answer that. I officially have 41 chapters planned out, but not written. I'm going through with my "system" which means I'll update with one chapter after another is finished. The date today in 21/13 (Happy birthday Harry Styles, my little cupcake princess), so I'll probably update on 2/4/13, the next Monday. I'm going to set a day of the week to update once a week, so you all can expect an update then. I'll update once a week, every Monday.  
>So, today is 21/13. The time in New York is 4:41 p.m and I am currently writing chapter 24 of Don't Be Afraid.  
>Have a sparkling day!~*<br>~Julianna**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>****Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 6:30 p.m.**

Needless to say, supper that evening was extremely awkward.

The new boy, Eddie, was sitting in the only empty seat, the head of the table; Nina's old seat. None of us cared about that fact; except for Amber. Every time you looked at her she was glaring at Eddie, and sometimes you could catch her muttering "That's Nina's seat" under her breath.

I'm not kidding. I just heard Amber say it five seconds ago.

Other than Amber's continual mutter, the dining room was inevitably quiet. You could hear Victor's pin drop from the other room. Even Trudy was quiet as she set another pitcher filled with tea down on the table.

I watched as Trudy walked into the common room and turned on the telly. I figured she wanted something for us to do, so television programs were the next best thing.

Amber set her fork down on her plate and aimed her death glare at Eddie again. "That's Nina's seat," she muttered once again.

I didn't think Eddie could hear her, but he swallowed a piece of his chicken and announced, "You keep saying the name Nina. Why? Who is she?"

Suddenly, the room grew darker than it had ever been. The air grew colder. If Sibuna wasn't together, no one talked about Nina. It was practically an unwritten rule. I didn't know if Eddie didn't like people staring at him or not, but it was too late now; every eye in Anubis House was no trained on him.

"Her name is Nina?" Eddie repeated.

On his face, there were multiple expressions. At a quick glance, I could catch confusion, suspicion, and curiosity. But there was also something else; knowledge. Eddie knew something that we didn't.

The silence continued for another few seconds until Mara explained, "There was a girl, Nina, that lived here last year, but she went missing in October. She was confirmed dead about a week and a half ago."

"So I'm taking her place," Eddie reasoned.

"I suppose," Mara returned.

Patricia was sitting next to me, to my left. Her eyes were narrowed and she wouldn't move her glance from Eddie. She wasn't as Amber was, glaring at him, but it was evident that she was curious.

I muttered in her ear, "Why are you looking at the new guy?

She jumped; I had startled her. Unfortunately, her jump only reminded me of how she jumped every time I touched her when she went blind. Though, now she wasn't blind; Patricia was just lost in thought and was abruptly brought back to Earth. "There's just something suspicious about him. I don't know what, but there's something more to him that he's not letting on."

"I think you're right. Sibuna meeting?" I suggested.

Patricia nodded. I was just about to push myself off of my chair when I heard something from the television that nearly made me jump out of my socks.

**xXx**

_"Sixteen-year-old Nina Martin disappeared on October 17th, but she was never found. There was no clues to her whereabouts. Many officials believed she was dead, but this photo suggests differently."_

The screen was black for less than a second, then a photo lightened the screen, and my heart nearly stopped.

The photo displayed Nina, in the same clothes as the day she disappeared. Her clothes were torn, ripped, and stained with mud, dirt, and blood. Her face was splattered with dirt, as well as her arms and her legs. She had lost her shows, so she was barefoot. Her face, arms, and legs, as well as being covered with dirt, were scratched, bruised, and scraped. A few drops of blood were seeping out from the thin cuts. Her feet were scratched beyond belief, most likely because she had been running through brush in the forest. And finally, you could see the fresh cut trailing from her wrist to her elbow, the cut that I watched her make.

But her body wasn't the worst part about the photograph shown. The worst part was her eyes; her green eyes that were normally full of curiosity, ambition, and excitement, were now replaced by cold fear. Her eyes were wide and her neck was craned to the left, glancing into the forest. She was afraid of something. What? The Man in Red? Shadowland? Something else? All there was was fear. She was afraid.

The announcer's voice brought me back to reality.

_"The photo was taken by Kathleen Fitzgerald, a teacher at the boarding school where Nina Martin attended before she disappeared. The location where the photograph was taken was actually in the school campus! Could this young woman possibly have found her way home?"_

The story on the news program changed, leaving Anubis House the quietest I ever heard it.

**xXx **

I felt like my head was going to implode. There were so many questions, but no answers. My girlfriend was supposedly out and about in the real world, but she running away from something in the woods. She was broken, bruised, and butchered, but she held her own. She could've been taken back to Shadowland, or she could be in the school campus. I felt like I was going to cry.

I needed answers, and _now_.

"We never reported her disappearance to the police," Alfie spoke his, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "Why are they tracking her?"

I knew the answer to that question, at least. Jason. He might have been possessed by the Man in Red, but he fought to take control. He knew he took Nina, and the little bit of himself he still had control of reported her to the police. I finally understood his actions. He _was_ trying to help her, after all.

"Fabian, what's going on?" Mara barked at me. "We got a phone call that said the police found her body. That means she was dead. DEAD. What the fuck is this now that they're reporting her still alive?"

I reluctantly eyed Patricia, Amber, Alfie and Mick, silently sending them a message to follow me upstairs. As a pushed myself up off of my chair, they obliged; they pushed themselves up just as quietly and we walked up the stairs in complete silence. I waited by the door to the attic for them to file in around me. Sibuna formed a small circle of five people.

"I don't get it," Mick said as soon as he joined our circle. "I thought she was trapped there, in that place. What did you and Amber call it? Shadow-something?"

"Shadowland," I confirmed. "And yes, she's trapped there. I don't understand this either; I guess she escaped or something, and was taken back in. She was afraid of something in the woods, guys. You could see it in her expression. I'm guessing she escaped and the Man in Red followed her, and that was why she was eyeing the woods with fear. If I know one thing, we can expect to get a dream tonight."

"I think I'm next," Patricia began to explain. "I mean, she was closest to you, Fabian, and you got the dreams first. Amber was her best friend and the next in line to Fabian, and she received a dream after him."

"It wasn't much of a dream," Amber muttered bitterly under her breath.

Patricia continued. "So yeah, thinking in her perspective, I'd say I was the closest to her after Amber. I think I'll get a dream next."

I added, "Do you even want a dream?"

Patricia shrugged, and didn't say anything after that.

"Patricia," I commanded, "why do you think there's something wrong with Eddie?"

She shrugged once again from where she was standing opposite me. "I can just tell. He radiates . . . secrets, I guess. And he's keeping them to himself. Don't worry, I'll get him to spill eventually." She sounded like she was convincing herself more than me.

"Yeah, okay," I breathed, knowing that wasn't the main priority at the moment. "We need to talk about Nina."

"Well, it actually makes sense," Alfie piped. "If Amber and Patricia lost their senses, than that means Nina's presence was in the area, hence the photograph. But what really caught my attention was the _photograph__er._ Kathleen Fitzgerald? Fitzgerald? The new teacher? If she's new, how did she know who Nina was and why did she submit that photo to the police?"

"The Man in Red?" Amber questioned.

"Possibly," I commented.

The group was silent for an amount of seconds before Mick announced, "So . . . these dreams you guys have. Did anyone have one recently?"

I stated, "Yeah, I did. Yesterday."

I didn't say anything after that. I was 96.3% sure that Nina didn't want me telling Sibuna that she had attempted suicide. I didn't even want to tell them. I wanted everything to go back to normal like it was before this whole "Dream" business started. I wanted Nina to return to Anubis and start a normal life with normal friends in a normal boarding school. There would be no mystery, just studying. No evil forces, just fictional ones in books. Everything would return to normal.

Luckily, I didn't have to explain further about my dream because Trudy yelled up the stairs, "DEARIES, COME BACK DOWN! YOUR SUPPER'S ARE GROWING COLD!"

Each of us groaned, but a no one protested. We all started to walk away from our small circle and down the stairs. Right before I reached the steps, I heard Patricia whisper into Alfie's ear, "Do you think I'll get a dream tonight?"

I wanted to hear more, but Mick walked up beside me and spoke, "So, the new guy is bunking with us. At least, that's what Trudy told me earlier. What a joy! Sharing a room with two other people instead of just one. Hopefully he's a heavy sleeper and won't hear your screams when you wake up from those dreams you have."

"Yeah, I hope so to," I said, but I wasn't really listening. I was too consumed with what I was going to say to Nina in my dream tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>Shadowland  Timeless / Fabian's Dream**

Just as I predicted, I had a dream that night.

I couldn't be happier when I saw Nina int my sight. Of course, I had to let the world stop spinning before I could properly see my girlfriend; I had completely forgotten about the drop sensation while entering Shadowland. When my sight eventually evened out, I could see the smile that was plastered on her face.

Nothing could compare to the feeling to relief I felt right then. All throughout the day, through the insanity of Patricia and Amber losing their senses and me having to make sure they were allies, and then the new guy moving in, I just wanted to make sure that Nina was all right. I just wanted to know that she was safe and sound in Shadowland.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I whispered as I walked toward her. I was just planning to place my hand on her shoulder, because I thought she might still be shaky from my last dream, but before I could move my hand, Nina tackled me in what would only be classified as an "Amber" hug.

I was shocked for a short moment. Before I could react, Nina had buried her head in my shoulder and was muttering into my shoulder, "Thank you so much."

I didn't want to ruin the moment, so I didn't say a word, just moved my free arm around her and pulled her closer. I wanted to live in this moment forever; no interruptions, no evil forces, just two people who loved each other. I wanted to stay like this forever.

Eventually, I said, "Thank me for what?" I asked her, genuinely confused.

She removed her head from my shirt and looked me straight in the eyes. "For saying what you did yesterday."

I took a deep breath before meeting her eyes again. "Can we put that behind us? It's in the past now. I don't ever want to think about it again. You said you wouldn't think like that again. Nina, you're my best friend and I love you so much."

"Of course we can."

Neither of us spoke after that. I cleared my throat before glancing around Shadowland and saying, "So, um . . . this is the place, huh?"

"Yeah . . ." Nina mumbled. "Not much of a place, but it's home now. I can give you a tour one day, if you'd like."

"That'd be great."

"So, did the new boy and girl come to Anubis yet?"

"What are you talking about?" I furrowed my brow in honest confusion. I had completely forgotten about Nina's announcement in my previous dream that two new people were coming to Anubis. "Oh . . . yeah. The boy came, but not the girl. When will she come?"

"Tomorrow," Nina replied with confidence. "I'm sure of it. I'm just not sure of who it is, yet." She pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "Do you still have my locket?"

I nodded. It was still under my mattress, glowing every second of every day. "It's your signal, right?" She nodded. "What kind of signal?"

Nina didn't answer. Instead, her lips released a smile. "You won't have to worry about it. The light won't ever stop glowing, I assure you. But I do have new information."

_I know what it is._

I escaped yesterday. Did you know that? I didn't get far, though, before the Man in Red caught me and took me back here. I didn't get a good look of where it was exactly, because I saw my chance and just bolted. But I knew that I was running through the woods. I know Shadowland is in the woods somewhere, but it's not like you can just walk in some abandoned shed and then find it. It's hidden by magic."

"Well, we're not magicians. How are we supposed to find it?"

"You'll find it. Trust me. There's someone out there that knows, and it's not the Man in Red. If you can find him, you can find me."

Judging by her expression, it seemed as if the person who knows was someone that she knew, but lost. It looked like she missed him.

I gasped when I heard the yelling coming from the forest to my right. Nina groaned and gave me a look of longing, wishing she could stay longer, but just by looking at her I could tell she needed to leave.

"It's alright, Nina." I tried to hide my disappointment. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

She nodded, and a faint smile played on her lips. "Of course." She skipped over to where I was and jumped up to kiss me on the cheek. "See you then."

And then my image faded.

* * *

><p><strong>Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 6:35 a.m.<strong>

When I opened my eyes, Mick was staring at me from across the room.

"It's about time you woke up. You had a dream, I'm guessing?" He said as he walked across the room and sat on my bed.

"Shh, Mick! Why are you saying this in front of Eddie?" I hissed.

"Um . . ." Mick gestured around the room. "He isn't here. He left for breakfast, like, fifteen minutes ago. I've just been waiting for you to wake up. Here -" he threw clothes at my face - "Get dressed or you'll be late for school."

Mick was acting so cool about our Sibuna business that it actually surprised me. Mick was a new recruit and I knew he was awkward about it, but this was the first time I'd seen him acting so comfortable about the dreams, the meeting, et cetera. Anyways, I figured that was good enough and pushed myself off of the bed and grabbed the Dream Log from under my bed. I was prepared to write what I had learned in my dream - about the boy who knew where she was and how Shadowland was in the woods.

After I finished slipping on all of my clothes, I opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Everyone was already ready to walk out the door and go to school, but I grabbed a spare piece of toast from the table and chewed off a piece, ignoring the fact that it wasn't warm anymore. I slipped my bag over my shoulder and while everyone in the common room struck up their own conversations, I noticed that Eddie was standing alone in the corner of the room. I almost felt sorry for the guy - he was a new student in a new school in a completely different continent, and he didn't have anyone to talk to.

I was just about to walk over to Eddie and talk to him when Patricia promptly squealed - which struck me back to reality. Patricia NEVER squeals.

"Fabian! Oh, my god! Guess what! Guess what! Oh, my god! I'm so excited!"

I gestured for her to continue, since I was too lazy to guess.

"Joy's coming back! She just texted me! She's returning to Anubis House! Joy's coming back!" The smile on Patricia's face was so huge that it looked like it was hurting her. While everyone else who originally resided in Anubis House before this whole Dream mystery squealed and asked Patricia questions about Joy, I couldn't be excited.

Just like Nina said, a girl was coming to Anubis House.

The girl was Joy Mercer.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - But at least it didn't take me 2 months to update with this new chapter.  
>A weekend in Long Island consists of going to the Babylon outlets, playing Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, going on Tumblr, and riding my bike everywhere. So now you know what I do every weekend. Well, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter on any note and chapter 25 should be coming sometime soon.<br>~Julianna****  
><strong>_~it's too cold outside for angels to fly~_


	25. Through it All, They Deserve it

**a/n - 2/1/13. While I write this, my friend Kristen is FaceTiming me. Kristen, if you're reading this, you need singing lessons.  
>Goddamnit, I just finished watching the latest episode of season 3. This show makes me want to throw myself off of a cliff. My baby left the show, KT pushed Fabian and Eddie might be hurt and I just CAN'T EVEN -<br>Ohmygosh I just read through chapter 24 and I think I may have worded the A/N wrong...there's more than 41 chapters planned out. I now have...44 chapters planned out and there will DEFINITELY be more, because this dumb story takes up like half of my day.  
>I don't own House of Anubis...never have...never will.<br>****Have a sparkling day!~*  
><strong>**~Julianna**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 3:30 p.m.**

"Three . . ." Jerome began.

"Two . . ." Alfie continued.

"One." I finished.

Joy came bursting through the door at that exact moment. Less than two milliseconds later, Patricia bounced from her seat on the couch and hugged her missing best friend with all of her might.

"Joy, you're back! I missed you so much!"

"I'm so glad to see you, Patricia!"

Everyone watched as the two hugged it out, swaying back and forth and saying things like that over and over again. After they released their death grips on each other, Mara and the rest of Anubis House walked up and hugged Joy as well. I stayed behind, because I didn't like being in that big group of people, so Joy hugged me last.

"Fabes, I'm so glad to see you! You look well!" Joy beamed as she threw her arms around me. I returned the hug. Before Nina's first year here, Joy and I had been so close. I wanted to gain that friendship back with her, even if I never felt any attraction to her at all.

"Glad to have you back, Joy." I laughed as I pulled back to take a good look at her. She looked amazing; happy, confident, and powerful. She definitely seemed like she was ready for the new year at Anubis House. Trudy ran in from the kitchen and hugged Joy as well, laughing and crying at the same time. Joy and Trudy were like mother and daughter back when Joy lived here full time.

"Would you like a snack?" Trudy asked, still smiling, leading Joy into the kitchen. Patricia followed her, as well as Mara and Amber. I figured the girls wanted their time alone, so I grabbed my rucksack from where it was sitting on the floor and reached inside it for my Dream Log. During school hours, I had a free period, so I decided to use that time to write down the information that Nina had told me in my dream last night.

_Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 12:25 p.m.  
><em>_She was okay. She was fine, and that was all I really needed to know. I just needed to know that my girlfriend was okay, and she was still alive.  
>Luckily, she was more than alive. She was happy. That actually surprised me; I thought Nina would be slightly shaken up. After all, she had attempted suicide only a day ago.<br>But the knowledge that she was alive was not the only thing I learned from my dream. The first thing she told me was that Shadowland was in the woods.  
>A small part of me knew it was in the woods. The woods are dark, mysterious, and ominous. No one truly knows what resides in them. Shadowland would be a perfect place to hide the Chosen One. Unfortunately, Nina confirmed that you couldn't just find it by wandering around mindlessly; it was protected by magic. That was another thing she told me; someone knew the secret to Shadowland.<br>She told me the person who knew the secret was a boy, but that doesn't make it any clearer. There are billions of men in the world. I could see her expression when she told me that info, though; it was like her puppy had just died. She had met the boy who knew the secret, but she wouldn't tell me who it was. I think she doesn't even know herself who it is yet. It might've helped if she had told me his name, but . . .  
>One more thing: when she had attempted to kill herself in my last dream, she had told me that a boy and a girl were going to come to Anubis House. The boy's come; his name is Eddie Miller, and he's from America. The girl, though, is yet to arrive, but I know who it is. Get this - it's JOY! She would've been the last person I'd have thought of.<br>Her dad lost his job at the school after Sibuna found and restored the Cup of Ankh, so Joy left to go to another town far away. Because her dad was unemployed, he didn't have the money to send Joy to the boarding school anymore. But obviously he scraped up some money to send Joy away. Now the boy and girl are here and they'll play an important part in the search for the Chosen One._

"Fabian, would you help me unpack?" Joy tapped my shoulder to bring me back to reality from where I was looking at my Log. I glanced up and quickly nodded, saying I'd help her. She led me upstairs to Patricia and Mara's room, where she would be bunking. She'd apparently asked Mara if Mara could room with Amber again, so Mara had asked her; but Amber had gone out on an all-out rampage and completely denied Joy's request.

So, Patricia, Mara and Joy were now sharing a triple.

Joy laid her suitcase out on the bed and we both started to put her clothes into the drawers, placing her picture frames onto the tables and the other random items around the room. Joy gave me a brief summary of what had happened the first time she'd gone missing when she was falsely accused of being the Chosen One, and then the second time, when her dad had pulled her out of the school. Her and I caught up, laughing and talking, just like old times, before this whole mystery had started.

"So," Joy singsonged as she sat down on the edge of her new bed. "Do you have a girlfriend, Fabian?"

I could see it in her expression that she wasn't asking me to go out with her; she was just curious. I grimaced. "Well . . . sort of. Yes, I do. But, at the same time I don't. She's technically still my girlfriend . . . but she's not actually here . . . ugh, it's complicated."

"Because she died?"

That struck me for a moment. I forgot that the only people who knew Nina wasn't dead was the people who lived at Anubis House - more specifically, the members of Sibuna. Mara still didn't know about Nina being alive. Obviously Joy would think she'd be dead, too.

I was stuck there for the moment, speechless. I wanted to tell Joy about the dreams, Shadowland, everything; she was technically part of the search for the Cup of Ankh last year when she was falsely accused of being the Chosen One. She'd understand if I told her about Shadowland, the dreams, et cetera. But should I?

"_Not yet_," Nina spoke in my mind from where she was in Shadowland, and I knew I couldn't tell her. Nina was the actual person who was giving us dreams; she'd know better about who to tell and who to give dreams to. If Nina, the highest on the list, the leader of our group, the actual Chosen One, didn't want me to tell Joy yet, I wasn't going to tell Joy.

"No, I don't think she died. The police called one day and they said they found her body, but we never held a funeral or a wake or anything that physically involves her body being there. We knew that the police were on the bad side since the beginning, so we weren't surprised when they didn't mention anything about Nina's disappearance after they "reported" her death."

"Whoa, wait! Back up a second!" Joy demanded. "Disappearance? She went missing?"

"Yep," I told her, and Joy's gaze lowered. "Wow. I didn't know that. When did she go missing?"

"October 17th," I recited from memory. I knew the exact day she disappeared, and I knew how long she'd been gone. She'd been missing for seventeen days now; almost three weeks. It seemed like an eternity ago that Amber and I were scouring out the woods, looking for wherever Nina could be.

"That must be heart-wrenching," Joy reasoned. "I mean, you liked her a lot. I'm not sure about loved, but you definitely liked her, I can tell. She's been gone for almost three weeks now, and you don't have the slightest idea of where she is, do you?

"No," I admitted, though it was a lie. I knew exactly where she was; I even have a down-to-the-last-detail drawing of the place, done by the artist-in-training Amber Millington. I knew where she was, and I knew what it is, I just didn't know how to get there.

"Well, I hope you find her," Joy murmured. "You two deserve it."

Patricia walked into the room then, so I left. As I walked out of the room, I couldn't help agreeing with Joy's statement.

_You two deserve it._

**xXx**

**3rd Person  
>Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 5:47 p.m.<strong>

Joy narrowed her eyes as she watched Fabian, Amber, Patricia and Alfie run up the stairs. They'd been talking when Fabian had suddenly said something and then they'd all bolted upstairs. She could've sworn that she'd heard the word "Sibuna" before they ran up.

After they'd disappeared up the girls' corridor, Joy scanned the Common Room. The only person left was Jerome; Mara had gone to the library to study for an upcoming test. Joy pushed herself off of the couch and sat down next to Jerome.

Jerome looked up from his handheld gaming system, where he was obliterating aliens. He cocked an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually, you can," Joy replied. "Why did Fabian, Patricia, Amber and Alfie just run up the stairs?"

Jerome turned his gaming system off and set it down on the arm of the couch. "Oh, that's their little gang. They solve mysteries or some shit like that. I wouldn't know. But I do know they have some sort of search for Nina going on." He rolled his eyes and moved his gaze so he was staring out the window.

A bell rang in Joy's head. _Nina_. Where had she heard that name before? She couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Joy had played a major part in their search last year when they were searching for the Cup of Ankh. She had been falsely accused of being the Chosen One, only to find out the true Chosen One was . . . Nina! So _that's_ where she had heard that name.

"That girl who died?" Joy inquired.

"She's not dead," Jerome stated simply. "She's still alive. I would know. I've healed her. I have quite a talent in the medical arts," He remarked sarcastically, but Joy could detect a bit of truth in his tone. She didn't know what he meant; Jerome couldn't heal a paper cut. She'd wished that she could understand, but when she'd tried to fry Fabian for answers earlier today, he hadn't spilled.

"Well, I want answers, and I'm sure you want answers too," Joy said. "How about this: Fabian and the others just went upstairs to discuss something, probably have a meeting or something. How about we go upstairs and hide behind the door so we can hear them? We both play a part in the mystery, and you know that."

Joy watched Jerome's mouth form into a grin. "I like that, Mercer. So, we go upstairs now?"

She smiled and grabbed his wrist. "Follow me."

**xXx**

**Amber  
>Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 10:00 p.m.<strong>

"IT IS TEN O'CLOCK! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY . . . AND THEN I WANT TO HEAR A PIN . . . DROP."

Victor's voice boomed from the hallway and I rolled my eyes; I could hear him from where I sat on my bed in my room. "Yeah, yeah, calm down, Captain Curfew," I muttered to myself as I pulled the blankets over my body and placed my head on my pillow. I was just about to close my eyes and try to go to sleep when the door opened and the lights turned on.

"Ugh, Fabian, the light burns." I complained as I pulled the blankets over my head to block the light from entering and I groaned when Fabian pulled them off. I hissed at the light and turned around, burying my face into my pillow.

"It's not Fabian," a different voice spoke. I lifted my head off of my pillow, only to see Mara standing over me.

"What do you waaaaaant?" I grunted, lying down on my back again so I could see Mara's face.

"My room's too crowded now. I'm sick of having three people in there, and it's only been seven hours. Can I sleep in here for tonight? Or the week? Or the rest of the year?"

"Do whatever you want, but it is Nina's side of the room, so when she comes back you'll have to move back in your room," I stated simply, turning back on my stomach.

I barely heard Mara say, "You do know that she's dead, right?" before I closed my eyes and fell into a not-so-dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Shadowland  Timeless / Amber's Dream**

"It's good to see you, Amber."

_The feeling is not mutual_. "Yeah, that's why you haven't given me a dream except for that lame excuse where you showed me your eye color?"

"I said I was sorry about that," Nina snapped. "I couldn't do anything about it. You try being possessed by an evil spirit and having no control over your own body. I didn't even know I was giving you a dream."

"Oh, that just makes it worse!" I exclaimed. "You wouldn't have given me a dream if you hadn't been possessed? So technically the Man in Red gave me a dream? I think I like him more than you now."

Nina fumed, but she didn't say anything after that. I was just about to laugh and yell that I won the argument, but after a moment, she cooled down and the fire in her eyes extinguished. "Look, Amber, you're being a baby right now. You know you're my best friend. You know I'd do anything for you. The fact that you're actually getting upset over the fact that the man who kidnapped me gave you a dream and not me, than I don't know what to say. You're just going to have to get over that fact and realize that I'm sending you the dreams now."

I snorted in annoyance. "Some friend you are. You curse me and Patricia with an ability we didn't even want, then you TAKE AWAY an ability that we need! You're so inconsiderate! And you're so selfish; you're sending us dreams because you want us to find you. It's all about you. No one else. But we're nice, so we try to save you, but you don't care about us. You don't care about any of us! You never did, did you? Because you've always been too consumed with yourself."

"_Shut up. _YOU DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT WHY I'M GIVING YOU THESE DREAMS, SO SHUT UP!" she screamed.

I should've been shocked, or even upset, that she yelled at me. But I wasn't; I just grew even angrier than I was before. How dare she yell at me!

"I WILL NOT SHUT UP! HOW DARE YOU TELL ME TO SHUT UP!" I returned. "You're selfish, uncaring, annoying, and I don't know why I even decided to be your friend!"

"Take a look at yourself, Amber," Nina hissed. The fire in her eyes had returned, but there was something else in them that I couldn't place. "You're the most selfish person I have ever met. You're conceded and spoiled and a little brat but somehow people find you appealing as a good friend."

"Well, obviously you thought I was a good friend, considering we were best friends last year when we looked for the Cup of Ankh last year." I laughed, glad I was making Nina angry. She didn't deserve to have friends. I had never met anyone so selfish, so obsessed with their own health and their own safety. I was so angry that I didn't even notice the thick red cut trailing from her wrist to her elbow. If I had noticed it that night . . . would anything have changed between us?

"Amber, I hate you. I really do. I HATE YOU!" She yelled and began to run away, towards the house. I scowled at her as she sprinted away but couldn't help but notice that the major points of the dream had been ruined.

"So, you're not even going to tell me any clues to how to find you? You're not going to be selfish and just give me a clue as to where you are?" I thundered, expanding my voice so she could hear me from where she was.

She turned around, her eyes flaring so much I was surprised she didn't burst into flames. She took a step towards me so I could hear her more clearly. "Yes, Amber, I do, actually," her voice was so steady, it actually surprised me. "I just learned that the Man in Red kidnapped me so he can get to you. He has no use for me other than getting to you guys, the ones at Anubis. So you better watch out; he might get to you before he gets to me."

And with that, she ran inside the house, and I could've sworn I heard a boy's voice. Not the Man in Red.

Someone I knew.

* * *

><p><strong>an - **Let's try this. 4-5 reviews for the next chapter. I probably won't get it, but hey, why not try it? I just want approval that people actually read this story because I have a couple of favorites but not many of those favorites review. So, if I get 4-5 reviews before the next week, that'd be awesome. Reviews make the world go round, so give the button a hug. (: Oh, yeah, and have a sparkling day~  
>~Julianna<strong>  
><strong>


	26. A Suspicion to Be Proved Wrong

**a/n - I apologize for my horrid writing skills. ;x  
><strong>**There's a long chapter coming your way today! Like I said before, I'm quite weird; I have a short attention span so I normally don't like reading long chapters, but I feel the need to write chapters between 3,000 and 4,000 words because if I don't, I feel like a failure. Well, anyway, I do hope you enjoy this chapter! Happy reading!  
>Have a sparkling day!~*<br>~Julianna  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nina<br>Friday, November 4th, 2011 4:41 a.m.**

Someone was lightly shaking my shoulder.

I was curled up in the corner of my room. Just before, I had been sleeping; no nightmares, for once. After I had finished yelling at Amber, I had to resist the urges - the urges were strong this time - but then I remembered my promise, so I had slept. There was so much shit in my life right now that I was surprised I didn't have nightmares. They were so reoccuring, so terrifying. I wanted desperately to tell Fabian about them; he'd be able to help me. But the Man in Red had said that if I told him about them, he'd hurt Fabian in the most horrifying way imaginable.

I couldn't let that happen. The Man in Red had taken me in the first place to hurt the Anubis kids. I couldn't let him hurt Fabian, of all people. So Fabian would never know I woke up screaming every night, crying myself back to sleep, just because I was afraid I'd have another nightmare.

I wanted to ignore the shaking, but I knew it wasn't the Man in Red. If I ever overslept, he'd kick me in my chest and call me a piece of shit, then proceed to keep the piece of stale bread he was planning to give me for food. I'd lost at least fifteen pounds in the two weeks I've been in Shadowland.

Since it wasn't the Man in Red, I slowly opened my eyes. When I registered who the face in front of me was, I jumped off from the floor and tackled him in a huge hug.

"Uhm, whoa . . ." he said, laughing lightly but with a shocked edge to his voice. Still, he pulled me closer in a hug. "Careful there, Nina. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself . . . or me. Okay, you're choking me now. Get off."

I laughed and pushed myself off of him, sitting back down on the floor. I looked up, examining his features; his blond hair and hazel eyes; his tall feature, 4 inches taller than me; and his smirk, never leaving his face. It was so nice to see him again, I could've cried.

Eddie smiled and pulled me into another hug. "I'm just glad you're okay. I was worried about you, you know. And I'm surprised you didn't stab me just now; the first time we met, you told me you were used to people leaving and then what I do? I left."

I blinked, staring at the floor for less than two seconds, but immediately turning my attention to the boy right in front of me. "But you came back. And that's what really matters."

After that, him and I talked for a while. I asked him questions about his life at his new school, and he asked how I was holding up here in Shadowland. I was just laughing at a really cheesy joke he had told me when the Man in Red came in.

Right after he opened the door, I knew something was wrong. There were no flames on his body. When I looked up, I noticed that there was a normal man in the doorway . . . not the Man in Red. He had taken another innocent man as an avatar to walk around the streets and pass as a normal man. But even if he had a different body, I knew he had the same soul. He was still a cruel, evil, menacing man who was only obsessed with killing. He had a different face but it could never hide his ugly soul.

Immediately, Eddie pushed me behind him and said, "Don't touch her."

The new man who MIR had taken control of laughed. "Oh, I won't touch her with you in the way, dear boy. Besides, I'll have more control over her when she's crying like a little baby again because you left."

I didn't have time to process what he meant before Eddie spoke up, "I'm not going to leave again. I'm staying here with Nina." His tone was more confident than I could ever be.

The Man in Red laughed again, and I cringed. His laugh was so sickening and evil, it was hard to listen to without screaming. "You'll do what I say, Eddie Miller. I have control over you. Just like the girl you're so foolishly protecting, you're my pawn. I can use you however you like. You should know that I sent the note that brought you here, not your stupid, puny little daddy. I'm using you as my spy. You're to go back to that stupid house and take note of what they're doing and bring it back to me. If I don't get the information I want, than I'll take my anger out on the girl just because you know I hit her. I'll abuse her and beat her until she's on the cusp of death, do you understand?"

Eddie was silent for a moment, but he nodded.

"Good. You're to return here at 10:30 p.m. sharp. If I don't see, I'll just take it out on the girl again."

And with that, the Man in Red slammed the door shut, forgetting to feed me once again. I sighed, holding back the tears. I couldn't let Eddie see me cry. He saw me as a tough girl who held her own, not one who cried every night because she was afraid of nightmares.

Eddie turned back to me, guilt obvious in his expression. "I'm sorry, Nina. I'm so, so sorry. I have to leave again."

The tears were just about to fall when he squeezed my hand and said, "But you heard him. I'll be back. I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>Patricia<br>Friday, November 4th, 2011 6:35 a.m.  
><strong>

I was toying around with my phone when I heard the door open. When I looked up, I saw that it was the new boy, Eddie.

It was 6:30 a.m. and Eddie had just walked in the door, sweating. The Sibuna in me kicked into high gear; something was extremely suspicious about this. It was only Eddie's third day here at this school and he was already involved in something. Where had he gone in the early morning where he was sweating? Was he running? That seemed highly unlikely.

I watched as he sat down on the couch next to Fabian. I heard the phrase "What happened?" but then I turned my head away. I knew that Fabian was a softie; he'd want to know what had happened to Eddie as a friend, not as a detective.

I rolled my eyes and turned my gaze to my phone again. I had opened the keypad and was prepared to type when Alfie skipped over to me and grabbed the phone, skipping off again. "Alfie!" I shrieked, pushing myself off of the couch and beginning to chase after him, "Give it back!" I didn't care that I was acting like a six-year-old, or that everyone was staring at us. Alfie was running in circles around the common room, but I cornered him.

"Give it back," I snarled in his face, but all he did was laugh. "I don't think so, Trixie. Let's see these messages you have . . ." he pressed a few buttons on the front of the phone. I gasped, realizing he'd read my texts, and I _could not_ let that happen. I repeat, I could not let that happen. Sibuna would kill me if they knew what was on my phone . . .

"No!" I shrieked again, tackling the scrawny boy. His head hit the floor and I held his arms in my grasp, by his head. I was ready to grab the phone from his hand when he counter-attacked me, rolling over me and pinning me instead. "You underestimate me, Williamson. I'm sure there's nothing that bad on your phone, is there?" He smirked, and my heart raced a mile a minute.

_Oh, god. This can't be happening. This isn't happening. He knows who I've been texting. This isn't happening._

Unfortunately, I couldn't tell what he was thinking in that messed-up head of his. I quickly thought up a lie as Joy began walking down the stairs. "Oh, yeah, there's nothing bad. I was just texting Joy. Right, Joy?" I raised my voice so she could hear me, sending that _Play along_ tone in my voice.

Her brown eyes widened as all heads in the common room turned to look at her. Luckily, she caught the message and nodded her head. "Yep, we were just texting."

Alfie rolled his eyes, annoyed he hadn't heard the alien theory he was thinking up in my head. I heard Jerome groan from where I was lying on the floor. "Really? I get that you two are best friends, and that's great, but seriously? You two live in the same room now. Patricia takes a shower first and she feels the need to text Joy when she could quite literally just walk up one flight of stairs?"

I didn't answer, just sent him a glare. It wasn't even one of my famous death-glares, just a regular old glare. I watched him move his gaze to the couch arm, like he was lost in thought. I heard him mutter, "Whatever," like he was talking to the voices in his head.

I pushed myself off from the floor when Amber came bolting down the stairs. She didn't even stop to take a breath when she grabbed me by my arm, and added Fabian and Alfie to the chain. She didn't say hello to the others or anything, she grabbed us and sprinted right back up the stairs.

I was too shocked to answer questions when she sat me on her bed in her bedroom. Fabian and Alfie ran right in after her; they were linked to her as well. They sat down on Nina's bed while Amber sat down on the floor in the middle of us.

The first thing she said was: "I had a dream last night."

Fabian's eyes grew to the size of tennis balls as he pushed himself off of the bed and knelt down to Amber's side. "What happened?"

Amber's eyes flared and I knew that she wasn't satisfied with her dream yet again. She scowled, crossed her arms, and pouted. "Nina is the most selfish human being to ever walk this Earth."

"Well, that's always nice to hear," Alfie chimed. "Especially coming from her best friend."

Amber groaned and glared at Alfie. If looks could kill, Amber would have just murdered her boyfriend. "DO NOT call me her best friend. I am not her best friend! I'm not even her_ friend,_ for that matter! She's not my friend anymore, so stop saying I'm best friends with her because I'm most definitely not her friend anymore." Amber snarled, and then closed her eyes as if she was about to cry.

Fabian placed his hand on Amber and began rubbing her back in circles. "It's all right. I know how emotionally draining those dreams are. But what was the clue that she Nina gave you?"

By this point, I wanted to storm out of the room dramatically and make a scene by running to my room and slamming the door. I was really expecting a dream last night. I'd never admit it to the others, but I really, honestly wanted a dream. Despite what everyone else said, Nina was my friend. She wasn't my best friend, not by a mile, but I'd definitely classify her as a friend. She kept giving dreams to Fabian and Amber, but no one but to me or anyone else in the Sibuna gang. I thought Amber might be right . . . she does sound selfish to me.

Amber sighed and opened her eyes. "Nina said that the reason she was taken wasn't because she was the Chosen One. She was taken because the Man in Red knew she was close to us and she didn't have anyone other than us here at Anubis House. She was taken because the Man in Red wants us. He doesn't want her. The Man in Red wants us."

The room grew immensely quiet. No one dared to say a word. Amber took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, while Alfie climbed off of the bed and hugged her. Amber hugged back, gripping his back. It might have looked like she was crying except . . . she wasn't.

If I was Nina, well . . . I'd hate to be her right now. Amber claimed that the reason she was taken was because she had no one except us here at Anubis House. If that was true, then we were being really shitty friends. Amber had grabbed her magazine from under the bed and began reading it to Alfie, and he was listening intently, as if he was actually interested in the stuff. Fabian was hitting buttons repeatedly on his phone, and when I leaned over to see what he was doing, he was playing a game. And me, well, I was ready to go downstairs and leave the Sibuna meeting. I had no interest in this anymore.

No one noticed me as I slipped out the door of Amber and Nina's room and ran down the stairs. I quietly took my seat next to Joy and she struck up a conversation with me right away.

A few minutes later, Trudy pushed us out the door for school. Joy and I were walking side-by-side. We were discussing Joy's favorite band when the new boy, Eddie, pushed past us without as much as an "excuse me".

"Do you even have any manners, newbie?" I snapped, raising my voice so he could hear me as he was walking away.

Newbie stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned around to face me. His green eyes were extremely bright in the early morning sun. I could see them almost clearly, which was almost ironic; I'm the One Who Can_ Hear_, not the One Who Can _See._

So when Newbie turned on his heels and began sprinting towards the school without as much a word to me, I knew there was something else in his bright green eyes; there was knowledge. He knew something he shouldn't. He had secrets. And I vowed to myself that I would be the one to uncover them.

I would learn his secrets. I would uncover the truth about who he really was. I would see the true Eddie . . . Eddie . . . Eddie . . .?

I turned to Joy, who was still standing beside me. "What's Eddie's last name again?"

**xXx**

**Fabian  
>Friday, November 4th, 2011 3:34 p.m.<strong>

As always, the school day droned on and on, ending much later than it should have. Normally, I'd pay attention in class and would actually be intrigued by what they were teaching, but Amber's words from this morning stuck in my head like an echo and I couldn't get it out of my head.

_"The Man in Red wants us, not Nina."_

The eight words echoed in my mind and wouldn't let me think of anything else as I walked home from school alone. I volunteered to walk with Amber, but she said she wanted to be alone to sort things out. I knew she was mad at Nina, and I knew she'd want to be alone, so I let her walk home without me. We had stopped the dumb "chain-link" thing we had been doing right after Nina went missing, because I'd lashed out one day and told everyone that I thought it was beyond selfish. They hadn't asked why, but they'd stopped doing the chain-link.

I had thought Amber was behind me as I walked the mile from the school to Anubis House, but obviously she had walked faster than me because as I stepped into the house, Amber grabbed my arm as she had this morning and pulled me upstairs. As I bounced up the wooden steps, I thought I saw a bunch of people push themselves off of the couch at once, and I knew it wasn't Sibuna in the common room because I was the last one in Amber's room.

Amber just wanted to apologize for this morning and the way she acted. She admitted she was overwhelmed and said that I was right about how the dreams were emotionally draining. I caught Patricia rolling her eyes many times during Amber's speech, and that's when I knew she honestly did want a dream.

"I don't know," Patricia admitted after I interrogated her about her eye-rolls, "I told you before, they seem dangerous and traveling to Shadowland seems annoying and unnecessary. You and Amber can have the dreams for all I care."

"Uh, excuse me," Mick sneered. "I actually want a dream. I want to know what goes on. I wasn't that close to Nina so I don't expect a dream anytime soon, but I want to be a part of Sibuna, and I'm sure Alfie does too. Right, Alfie?" He looked at Alfie and they both nodded their heads.

"Whatever," Patricia grunted. "Fabian, do you have your Dream Log?" She reached for my bag without waiting for me to approve her statement. She grabbed the notebook and opened it up, scanning the last page that was written in. She placed her finger on the signature that said "Amber" in perfect calligraphy script. She looked up. "Amber, you wrote an entry?"

"Yeah," Amber spoke, "I wrote it during school today. I did have a dream, after all. Didn't you see the new title? It says "SIBUNA'S DREAM LOG' instead of just "FABIAN"'s dream log. There's a difference, you know." she grinned.

Patricia ignored her as she read her entry. I had already read it after Amber wrote it during class today.

_Friday, November 4th, 2011 11:25 a.m.  
><em>_I am not dealing with Nina's shit anymore. I am 100% done with her.  
>Personally, I think she's beyond selfish. She doesn't care about anyone other than herself. All she wants is to get her poor little self out of Shadowland and get back with us. She thinks that she's everyone's best friend here. Newsflash, honey; you're not. Patricia's got Joy, Alfie's got Jerome, and I've got Ni- I've got Mara, obviously. Fabian's got, like, everyone in the house. Everyone has other friends and she should know that. She's not everyone best friend. Sure, if someone asked, I'd have said Nina was my friend. But if someone asked me if she was my best friend, I'd have hesitated, then said yes.<br>Oh, and Nina, don't get a big head over that. Yeah, sure, you were my best friend back then, but I have realized my mistakes now. You're not a good friend. You only care about yourself. I thought you might have cared about me, or, say, your own boyfriend, even. __But you don't. __You're the most selfish being on the planet.  
><em>. . ._Okay, I might have been exaggerating a bit there. But you really are selfish. All you care about is getting your poor self out of Shadowland and back to us. You don't care that you're sending us dreams at night that give us insomnia and the actual fear of going to sleep. You don't care that none of us are detectives and can't figure out the dumbass clues you give us. Why? Because you don't care about what happens to us. All you care about is keeping yourself safe and from harm. You say that we mean to world to you, but if we really did, then you'd stop being selfish, stop sending us dreams, and stop bothering us all together. Maybe, Nina, if you did that, than we'd actually consider coming to find you.  
><em>_I should get to point, shouldn't I? Sorry. Nina just infuriates me to the extreme and I got off track. Anyway, according to her, being the Chosen One was not the reason she was taken. She was taken because the Man in Red, the person who kidnapped her, took her because he knew we were close to her. Basically, she was taken so the Man in Red can get to us and . . . who knows what he'll do to us? Kill us? Torture us? God knows what.  
><em>_I don't know what to say anymore. I could go on and on about how infuriating Nina is and how angry she makes me, but I'll spare whoever's reading this the time. Fabian made me write this entry, after all. He wants to keep track of all the dreams we have so we can find Nina and get this whole thing over with. That's all he cares about; getting it over with. He wants to end it, as do I. And once we finish it, everyone else might be happy to have our first American back here.  
><em>_But not me.  
><em>_I won't be happy.  
><em>_Not-so-sincerely,  
><em>_Amber_

No one dared to say a word after Patricia finished reading out loud. The r she was room grew deathly quiet. Amber bowed her head, as if she was ashamed, and Alfie was surprisingly quiet. I stayed silent as well, surveying the scene. I had already read her entry, but I still couldn't believe Amber's words. I knew there was reasoning behind her words, but honestly, she didn't know shit about the dreams. I had to admit, I didn't know anything about the dreams we had either; neither of us should be critical of a thing we knew nothing about.

Even though the room was dead quiet, I could hear whispering and murmuring . . . where was it coming from? I quietly pushed myself off of the floor and placed my hand on Patricia's shoulder, knowing she could help me, since she was The One Who Can Hear. After I grabbed her attention, I found a notebook on the nightstand next to Nina's bed and a pen alongside it. I opened up to clean sheet of paper and wrote: _Can you something on the other side of the door? And if so, what are they saying?_

Patricia hesitated for something, obviously focusing on the sounds outside the door. Her eyes grew to the size of golf balls before she wrote down:_ It's Joy's voice! She was talking about Amber's Dream Log entry. She was spying on us! And, wait . . . I hear Jerome's voice too!_

That was enough for me. My eyes flaring, I jumped off the bed and flung the door open, catching Joy and Jerome red-handed. I stared daggers at them, and the only thing Joy said in return was to Jerome.

"I told you to be more quiet!"

**xXx**

**4:48 p.m.**

It's funny how you can go from angry to accepting in a matter of minutes.

After Joy and Jerome confessed they were spying, Joy brought up Mara as well. They wouldn't leave until we told them the truth, so I ushered them inside and Sibuna and I spilled on the whole story; starting with Nina's disappearance on October 17th, and ending where we were today. I wasn't planning on telling them about Sibuna until Jerome brought it up and Mara and Joy asked what it was.

They admitted they were eavesdropping on our meeting because they were part of the search, too, and they wanted to know what was going on. Joy said that this was only their second time listening in, but Jerome ruined it because he couldn't be quiet.

The next thing I knew, Sibuna, Jerome, Joy and Mara were standing in front of the fire near the old elm tree where we used to meet.

"Joy, are you ready?" She grinned. It was obvious she had waited for this moment since we unraveled the mystery involving the Cup of Ankh and it was revealed that Joy wasn't the true Chosen One. She nodded and gripped Patricia's hand, since they were standing side-by-side. In Joy's other hand, she held her stuffed bunny, Bunsie Buns. It had taken a lot of coaxing from Patricia to get Joy to give her up, but since she agreed, it was obvious she truly wanted to be a Sibuna.

I sighed, taking in a deep breath. "All right, Joy. Repeat after me. 'I, Joy Olivia Mercer, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and promise to stand by my fellow club members; Amber Jaqueline Millington, Patricia Alexa Williamson, Alfred Marmaduke Lewis, Michael Charles Campbell **(A/N - Usually, Mick is a nickname for the name Michael.)**, Fabian Thomas Rutter, and Nina Samantha Martin."

Joy repeated what I said, and threw her precious stuffed bunny in the fire. As she watched it burn, she turned into Patricia's shoulder and began crying. I couldn't tell if Joy was just being obnoxious or if she actually cared about the stuffed animal. After all, she had owned the thing for thirteen years.

Next, I turned to Mara. "I, Mara Emily Jaffray, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and stand by my fellow club members; Amber Jaqueline Millington, Patricia Alexa Williamson, Alfred Marmaduke Lewis, Michael Charles Campbell, Fabian Thomas Rutter, Nina Samantha Martin, and Joy Olivia Mercer."

Mara threw a piece of paper into the fire. I wasn't sure what was on that paper, but it was gone, burning in the flames. I repeated what I said to Jerome, adding Mara onto the list, and he tossed a necklace that his parents had given him into the fire.

Now, Sibuna had nine members. There was only one member of Anubis House left that I knew would never be initiated.

That person was the new guy, Eddie.

**xXx**

**Fabian  
><strong>**Friday, November 4th, 2011 10:58 p.m.**

"Where is he?" I ranted, sitting on my bed as Mick and I waited for Eddie to come in. We said we wouldn't do lights out until he came back, just to be nice, but we both had been waiting for almost an hour and we were getting tired.

"He's never here for lights out," Mick reported. "I see him in the common room before Victor gives his pin drop speech, but when we go in he's not here! Where could he go?"

I shrugged, not knowing the answer myself. "Who knows? I don't even care anymore. He wants to disappear every night, that's his choice. I'm tired from the Sibuna meeting this afternoon, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight," I hissed, throwing the blankets over my head and preparing myself for the dream that I would most likely have.

**xXx**

Did I have a dream that night?

You could bet your sweet pumpkins that I did.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Thank you for reading; I do hope you enjoyed! And if you read all the way to the bottom and actually finished the chapters, I award you a virtual cookie.  
>So I just realized that Don't Be Afraid will last longer than July of this year . . . Ay dios mios. So, I'd like to hear your predictions for this story, and even what you'd like to happen! Though if your idea messes up my plot line, I'm sorry, it can't happen. I've had this story planned out since October of 2011 and nothing is gonna mess it up. Also, should this story have a sequel when it's over?<br>Post your comments and reviews in the box below (:  
><strong>


	27. To Foreshadow

**Shadowland / Timeless / Fabian's Dream**

Nina and I were sitting down on the couch inside the house in Shadowland. She had called me for a dream a few minutes ago, and when I was brought here, I asked her if she could show me the inside of the house. I had never actually been inside of it; I've only ever been out front.

As it turned out, Nina had never really explored the house at all. She and I explored the rooms together, opening doors, closing them, and falling down on each other. Throughout the search of this house, Nina was always laughing. It sounded extremely cheesy, but it made me happy to see that she was happy again.

The house mostly consisted of closets and empty rooms. Nina couldn't go inside her room (The room had borders; she couldn't call me for a dream in there because it had a sort of force-field around it), but she showed it to me. The room where she slept every night was completely empty, except for a broken down chair right smack in the middle of the room. She said that she hadn't sat in it at all - she was too scared to - but she hadn't removed it and neither had the Man in Red.

Afterwards, we explored some more, and we eventually found a kitchen. It was empty, of course; no food in sight. Nina seemed kind of upset about that, and I wondered why.

"Fabian," Nina smiled. "After this dream is over, could you bring the information to Amber so she could draw it down? Just so guys could keep it? I figure that if you examine the layout of the house we're in right now, you might be able to figure out something important, you know?"

"That's a great idea!" I beamed. But when Nina's words truly sank in, I furrowed my brow and crinkled my nose. "Nina, I . . . I don't know if Amber would want to do that . . . she's kind of pissed off at you at the moment."

Nina grimaced and cringed. "Yeah, I know. But I feel that it'll be really important, and besides, giving Amber more practice in her ability won't hurt, right? You don't have to say that it was a request from me."

I nodded. Honestly, I thought that a was a good idea as well.

Nina grabbed my hand and squeezed it. As much as I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting to Nina's arm; the arm where Nina had cut her wrist, dragging the piece of glass vertically across her arm, watching the blood pour out on her skin and fall down on the concrete. The cut was healing now; it was a sickly shade of red and purple, but it was healing slowly and steadily. Nina had told me that night that she wouldn't do that to herself again, that she'd keep herself alive and would continue sending us dreams.

I didn't think it was a good idea to mention the cut to her, so I didn't. I was 100% positive that a scar would be there forever, embedded into her skin, an eternal reminder of what she was about to do before I stopped her.

"So, Nina," I began, changing the subject. "Any new information for us to take account of?"

She sighed, avoiding my gaze, diverting it to the floor. She folded her hands together, placing them in her lap, and said, "I don't think I should tell you. I wouldn't want to be selfish."

When her words sunk in, I groaned and closed my eyes. "Oh, Nina, don't listen to Amber. She's moody and is probably going though PMS right now." I snorted, laughing at my own joke, but Nina didn't laugh along with me.

"I'm serious. Amber thinks I'm being selfish, and . . . well, maybe I am. I don't want you to think that I'm a selfish person. I don't want to be a selfish person. Would it be better if I just stopped sending you dreams all together, and let you forget about me all together? It's obvious Amber would be happier that way."

"Well, I wouldn't," I stated. "I want my best friend back with me, solving mysterious and releasing ancient spirits."

Nina laughed weakly, her lips releasing a small smile. "I dunno. I don't learn a lot every single day." She sat back against the couch and acknowledged me with her green eyes. "Tell me what you know about Shadowland."

I mentally ran through a list I had about Shadowland facts. "All right . . ." I began, licking my teeth. "I know that Shadowland itself is in the woods, but you can't take the woods outside to get here. If you reach the end of the woods . . . what happens? Is there even an end?"

"It's sort of like the Hunger Games," Nina explained. "Shadowland is almost like the arena, and there's a force-field surrounding the whole place so I can't get out. But like I told you, there's someone that knows the secret to Shadowland, that can get in and out, that isn't the Man in Red. It's a different boy. I just don't know where he is anymore . . ."

There was that look again. Like her puppy dog had just died. I knew before that she had met the boy who knew the secret to Shadowland, but now there was something else. It was like . . . he had come back, and then left again. Him leaving kept breaking Nina's heart all over again. And that's when I realized; every time Amber or I had a dream, we left at the end. Nina had no choice to bring us back home, but now it was obvious it was killing her to let us go. She was used to people leaving, and that's all we ever did. We left.

I felt guilty, and I was sure that Nina didn't want to talk about it anymore, so I decided to change the subject before she started crying over the people she loved leaving. "Amber said that in her last dream, you told her that the Man in Red kidnapped you so he could get a hold of us. Is that true?"

Nina grimaced, but she nodded. "Yeah. At least, that's what he told me . . . by the way, I saw the Man in Red today, and he took another man as an avatar. You know how he possessed Jason, and for a while we thought that the man who took me was Jason?"

I nodded, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, we thought it was Jason because the Man in Red was in Jason's body. He possessed Jason. And now, he possessed another man. I don't know who it is. It's probably just a random man he found on the streets."

I nodded, letting the information sink in. I already knew the Man in Red could possess people, thanks to Amber's dream when she saw that Nina's eyes were crimson, and not green. If he had taken another person as an avatar, that means he could be out and about at this very moment and we wouldn't know what he looked like . . . but Nina would.

"What does he look like?" I said, voicing my thoughts, placing my hand on Nina's shoulder.

Nina sighed, guilt overwhelming her expression. "I don't know," she admitted, "I didn't get a good look at him earlier today. But when he comes back, I'll take a better look at him and report to you what he looks like."

I nodded, but didn't say anything after that. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to say.

Nina popped her lips and beamed at me. "So, tell me all the clues which we know. I don't really know them myself, so . . ."

I wrinkled my forehead and narrowed my eyes, trying hard to think back to the very first dreams and what we know about them. "Okay . . . We know you're stuck here and you can't get out. We know that Shadowland is in the woods somewhere, but it's protected by some kind of magic so we can't find it by just wandering around. We know that the Man in Red can possess people, as he had possessed you. We know that there's a boy who knows the secret to Shadowland, but we don't know where he is now. We know that we all have powers, but only Amber and Patricia have discovered what their powers are; the rest of us are waiting to discover what ours are. We know that your locket is a signal, but you won't tell me what it is. But it's a signal of some kind. And now, we know that the Man in Red wants us, not you. He kidnapped you to get to us."

Nina smiled. "Perfect. Now you know everything I know." She started playing with her fingers, like she always does when she's nervous. "Fabian, I . . . I have a request."

"For Amber to draw out the house. I know. I won't forget to tell her."

"No, it's . . ." Nina began, but she realized she was beginning to stutter, so she stopped herself. "I mean, write down all of the clues. I know you have a Dream Log, so write down the information that I tell you. I know as much as you do, so it's no use frying me for new clues. Just . . . write down what you know, okay? So you don't forget it."

I nodded, though I had no idea what she meant by that; but if she wanted us to do it and thought it might be useful in getting her back and ending the search, I'd do anything.

I scooched over on the couch and draped my arm around Nina's back. I didn't know what was bothering her, but she wouldn't stop twirling her fingers, so I figured something was wrong. "What's up? What are you worried about?"

Nina was silent for an amount of time before she spoke. "Do you want me to be honest?"

"Absolutely. No secrets."

Nina took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them to meet mine. "I'm worried about the Man in Red. I mean . . . he comes in here every day - he has a schedule, see - he comes in every day at five a.m. and leaves every day at noon, and comes back in the next day at five, and it repeats every single day. I'm not getting much sleep because if he catches me, he'll . . . he . . ."

Nina was on the verge of tears, but I could see she was fighting hard to keep them back. It broke my heart to see her this scared, this helpless.

I started rubbing her arm in comfort, but kept quiet in hope that she'd continue her story. I didn't know what the Man in Red did to her if she overslept, but if it was something bad . . . I wouldn't be a happy camper, let's leave it at that.

Unfortunately, Nina couldn't continue her story because when she looked over my shoulder and her expression turned from sadness into pure horror, I knew what was standing behind me.

"Shit. Shit." Nina muttering, fumbling for my hand which was resting on her shoulders. When she finally gripped them in her hands, she said a quick goodbye and I knew she was sending me out of Shadowland.

The last thing I heard was the Man in Red scolding Nina and a loud smack, a thump, and a scream, before the image in front of me faded completely.

**xXx**

**Fabian  
><strong>**Saturday, November 5th, 2011 5:38 a.m.**

My eyes jolted open, and the first thing I registered was the ceiling in front of me.

All I knew was that I had just woken up from a dream. I didn't know what time it was, and I didn't know what had happened to Nina after I left Shadowland. I didn't know if that scream had belonged to her or someone else.

_Stop playing dumb, Fabian, _I told myself. _You know it was Nina's scream. Stop denying it._

I rubbed my temples, trying to stop the oncoming headache. Nina had abruptly sent me back to Anubis House because the Man in Red had come in (obviously it was 5 a.m. when Nina sent me back), but I'd never know what he did to her because the last thing I heard was Nina's scream.

I didn't know if she was okay or not. Just 10 minutes before, she had been smiling, beaming at me with those gorgeous, shimmering, full-of-life green eyes. Now, the look of fear, hatred, and pain would return, and she might consider doing it again . . .

When my breathing rate had become steady again, I sat up and looked around the room. Everything was how it should be, except . . . something was missing.

Mick was asleep in his bed, facing the wall, snoring soundly. There was a big lump underneath the sheets that constantly tossed and turned, so it was evident he was underneath all of those blankets.

But when I turned to look at the new boy's bed, Eddie . . . there was nothing. The blankets lay flat on his bed, there was no lump signaling he slept there . . . he wasn't there when I went to sleep, so I just figured he went for a walk or something. He told me one night he liked going for a walk to clear his head, but judging by the clock - 5:38 a.m. - I knew he couldn't be going for a seven hour walk.

I rolled my eyes and laid my head back down on my pillow. Today was a Saturday and I had nothing to do. I could rest and relax the whole day - at least until tonight, when I had to worry about who was getting a dream and the clues we would have to piece together.

If I had to admit anything, nighttime became my least favorite time in the day.

**xXx**

**8:29 a.m.**

When I woke up again, Eddie still wasn't in his bed. That drew it for me; I needed to know where he was, because it was obvious there was something suspicious going on.

I tore the covers off of my body and eyed Mick as I was walking out the doorway. I didn't even care that I was in my pajamas; no one in Anubis House ever gets dressed on a weekend until at least 11:00 a.m., when Trudy gets mad and yells at us all to put proper clothes on.

I stormed out of my room and into the kitchen. If I was going to find out where Eddie was, I would need a good, balanced breakfast. So it was no surprise why I was shocked to find Eddie himself in the kitchen, promptly making himself a hogie for breakfast.

He turned around, and I noticed that his blonde hair that was usually in a spike was now pushed down on his forehead because of the sweat that dotted his face. When his hazel eyes registered me, in my pajamas, a furious expression on my face, he laughed. "Hey, dude. Want a hogie? I make the best ones in the universe."

I stood there speechless for a second, but immeadiately shook myself out of it. "Oh . . . no. I'm good. I'll just make myself some toast or something."

"'Kay," Eddie said, and then walked out of the kitchen, stuffing his mouth into his breakfast-hogie.

It might have been my spidey-senses, but I could tell that something wasn't right here.

"Nope, it was your spidey-senses," Alfie told me as he walked into the kitchen, almost as if he had read my mind.

**xXx**

**11:00 a.m.**

Everyone at Anubis had voted on going to town today. Usually, we all took a vote and decided what we were going to do (which we were doing today), but the past two weeks had been so hectic and nerve-wracking with Nina's disappearance - but now everyone, including Mara, knew that Nina was alive and well, so we decided to spend the day hanging out - just not without the Chosen One.

While we hailed a taxi to take us to town, I tried desperately to do what I did on the first of November, when Amber had gotten her first dream - the dream that originated her newly-acquired hatred for her once-best friend, Nina Martin. I tried to mind-talk again . . . to get in contact with Nina. It was only 11 a.m, so obviously I couldn't get a proper Dream until later tonight, but the sounds when I had left the dream had haunted me for hours. I needed to know she was okay.

Unfortunately, I tried again and again, calling her name over and over in my head, but she wouldn't respond. I didn't know if she couldn't hear me, if she was ignoring me, or if she was . . . _No. Don't think like that._

Before we left for town, Sibuna (who was now everyone in the House except for Eddie) made a silent pack that we wouldn't mention anything to do with Nina/Dreams/Shadowland while he was around. He wouldn't know anything, of course, but we figured we were better safe than sorry. **(A/N - I beg to differ :D )**

When Amber had caught sight of a tiny boutique named "A Trip to Paradise", she squealed and dragged all of us in. While she and Mara were off looking at the sun dresses, the boys stayed behind near the entrance to the store. I sat alone, playing with my phone, when Eddie tapped my shoulder lightly and called me over to a spot behind the boutique.

"Fabian, I'm lost here. I don't know any of your names except you and Mick. I'm in a completely different continent and I have no idea where I'm going. Could you help me? Like, really introduce me to the people at Anubis House and even give me a tour of the House so I'm not wandering around aimlessly and ended up in the girls' bathroom like I did last night."

"Hey, don't worry, mate," I spoke. "I'll help you. It's no problem. Here, come into the boutique and I'll introduce you to the girls first."

I gave Eddie a detailed biography of each of them, describing their personalities and flaws; telling him who he should avoid and who he should steer clear of. Patricia, obviously, was on the "steer-clear" list. She could not be more clear as to her feelings toward the newbie. Her hatred towards him could not be more obvious.

I also gave him introductions to the boys, and when we got home, I gave him a tour of Anubis House. Through the tour, I tried not to stare at his expression, but it was like he was soaking this all in as to remember it later.

As if, he needed it. Not just for himself but . . . for another person. Like he needed to tell someone or it put his life in danger . . .

So obviously, it wasn't a big surprise when Eddie disappeared that night again.

**xXx**

**Patricia**  
><strong>Saturday, November 5th, 2011 9:57 p.m.<strong>

I had approximately three minutes before Captain Curfew attacked with his pin-drop speech and I was yelled at to go outside. I was texting him when I noticed a figure walk out of the doorway.

I looked up from my phone and noticed a tuft of blonde hair walk out of the door. The only people with blonde hair in Anubis House were Amber (eliminated - she didn't like going out at night and getting her shoes dirty), Jerome (Possibly - but what he'd never admit was that he had been scared of the dark since he was 5.), and the new boy, Eddie.

What was he doing up, leaving the House at this late hour? Victor, surely, would never allow it.

I was about to report him in to Victor, but as I saw him coming down the stairs, I knew I'd only get yelled at for not being in bed by 10. So I did the only thing I could think of - I followed Eddie out of the house.

It was hard to see him with the darkness blocking my vision; but I saw a walking figure not too far from where I was standing. I jogged at a steady pace, keeping up with Eddie from afar.

I agreed with Fabian at the exact moment when Eddie walked into the woods.

Why did he go into the woods? And especially at ten o'clock at night? Surely he couldn't see anything in the woods at this hour. He'd most likely come back bruised and butchered from being in the woods; but what did I care? Eddie wasn't even an acquiantance of mine.

But then I remembered that I swore that I would be the one to figure Eddie Miller out. I would break him into a million pieces and shatter him until there was nothing left for him to live for. I'd find out his secrets and figure out why he was heading into the woods at this hour.

I'd find the real Eddie Miller.

Little did I know that I'd end up falling in love with the boy in the process.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Did you catch the hints? Did you catch my not-so-subtle hint that there will be Peddie in this story? :D**  
><strong>Yeah, so if you're confused about the whole Eddie buisness and why he's suddenly in the story; I first wrote the first chapter in 2011, after season 1 ended, but before season 2 started. I had writer's block for a time, so I didn't update for 4 months, until February of 2012. By that time, season 2 was airing. Eddie had already come in, so I edited the plot line a bit to bring him in. I'm not adding KT or Willow yet, but hey, maybe they'll come in towards the end or even in the sequel I'm thinking about!<strong>  
><strong>Reviews make the world go round, so give the button a hug (:<strong>  
><strong>Have a sparkling day~*<strong>  
><strong>~Julianna<strong>


	28. Dirty Little Freak

**A/N - I apologize for my horrid writing skills. ;x  
>Guess what Saturday was? :D Saturday was my birthday! (: Yeah, March 2nd was my birthday; I'm now officially 14 years of age! So this is definitely a special chapter because it's the first one I posted after the new number I achieved in my age count.<strong>  
><strong>Di immortales, I got 8 reviews on the previous chapter! Hopefully I can get some belated-birthday wishes from my amazing readers? :)<strong> **You guys have no idea how much the continual suuport means to me. I wouldn't be anywhere without it, so you guys mean the world to me. :)**  
><strong>Warning: Physical Abuse in the chapter.<strong>  
><strong>I had Writer's Block while writing this chapter, so it may not be as good as I anticipated it would be . . . hopefully, chapter 29 and 30 will be better. <strong>**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nina<br>Shadowland  
>Friday, November 5th, 2011 5:38 a.m.<strong>

"Just guess what I'm going to do to you."

He took one step forward in his new human body.

_Thump_. The first beat of my heart set off the rest. _Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump_. One after the other. My pulse raced, the pounding of my heart echoing in my ears, erasing all sounds around me.

I swallowed, closing my eyes and imagining a better place, anywhere that wasn't here. Seconds, possibly minutes past before I opened my eyes again.

To my horror, I was still here. I said, "You're going to hit me."

"Correct," the Man in Red confirmed. He released a sickening smile before his palm met my cheek and a stinging sensation overtook me.

The slap didn't faze me. I'd dealt with abuse worse than that. I ignored the sting in my cheek as a pleading look crossed my face. "What did I do wrong?" I begged. "I was doing exactly as you asked! Tell me what I did!"

"It's more like what you didn't do," he said, clenching his teeth, as he moved forward to place his arm around my neck, holding my head much too close to his mouth. I gasped, but caught my breath before he could hear me.

I'd been telling Fabian for the past two and a half weeks that I wasn't afraid of anything. I wasn't afraid of the Man in Red. I wasn't afraid of Shadowland. But I was.

I was utterly and deathly afraid of the man holding me by his arm. My pulse racing, my heart thumping, my adrenaline rushing through my veins. But I couldn't attack him - he'd hurt me much worse than I could hurt him.

I heard something slip out of his pocket, but I dare not to look. The Man in Red said in a disgustedly seductive voice, "Now, we wouldn't want to ruin your pretty face, would we? That would be a shame for your little boyfriend back home."

_Fabian._ His name echoed through my head, and I could think of nothing else but him. _Fabian. You have to keep Fabian safe. If you love him, you won't let anything happen to him_.

He tightened his grip on my neck and I closed my eyes in fear. I knew he could tighten his grip even further and choke me to death. He wouldn't care if he killed me. He'd find another poor minion to do his crimes for him, to find another person who wouldn't mind being kidnapped and sending dreams to their friends.

He would suck the life out of me in two measly seconds.

I could already feel the tears falling down my face as he let go of his grip on my neck and threw me down onto the floor, so I was forced to stare up at his ugly face. "Don't you do anything to Fabian," I said confidently, through the tears, trying but failing to keep my voice steady. My voice cracked with wet tears as I said again, "He didn't do anything to you. Don't hurt him. Don't you DARE hurt him!"

He chuckled, and the sound of his evil, disgusting voice made me heart swell with anger. "Hm, you love the boy, don't you? What was his name? Ah, yes, Fabian. That was his name. A beautiful name, really. It goes good with your name, Nina."

"Don't call me by my first name," I murmured, but I didn't realize at the time that all I was doing was pushing my luck. I couldn't sat there talking with him all day to prevent him from abusing me further, but I didn't want him to call me Nina. I didn't want him to refer to me by my first name.

We were _not_ friends. We were_ never_ friends. We would _never be_ friends.

He was not my friend.

"Ah, confident little fellow, are we?" He snarled, just like the disgusting dog he was, and kicked me in the chest from where I was lying on the floor. I gasped, having the breath kicked out of me and gripped my stomach in pain. "You're such a crybaby," the Man in Red marveled, his sickening smirk making a reappearance. "Nina Martin, I know you all too well. You'll try to stay strong while I'm hitting you, but as soon as I leave you'll break down into hysterics. _I know you._"

"You don't know anything about me," I gasped, the pain from my chest overwhelming everything else. It was only a kick, a simple blow to the chest, but it hurt like the Devil. The air from my lungs was long gone. I knew I'd have to get up and catch my breath again, or else I'd die of oxygen loss, or something along those lines.

"I know everything about you," the Man in Red said ominously, as he took soft, short steps to stand in front of me once again. He stood, towering over me, and I knew that I couldn't do anything without it coming back to bite me in the ass. The Man in Red was my karma.

I cautiously pushed myself off of the floor, so I was sitting up. I could feel the bruises forming, the blood dripping down my legs, but I ignored the sting and deadpanned, "Tell me what I did wrong."

"What didn't you do wrong?" He murmured, almost to himself, as he walked over to the beat-up couch that Fabian and I were just sitting on. Once he sat, he crossed his legs, and his eyes drifted off into the distance. I had no idea whether he was going to come back to hit me again, but I stayed put, sitting on the cold floorboards.

"The first day I was here," I began, in a whisper that was so inaudible I was surprised he could hear me, "You told me to give my friends dreams, or else you'd hurt them and get them yourself," I remembered. "You gave me the power to give dreams at night. You told me exactly what I had to do. I didn't want you to hurt my friends, so I obeyed you. I was just giving my friend a dream, and you stopped me. Why?"

"Because," he stated. That was all he said.

"There has to be a reason."

"Because I'm just an evil being, that's why."

I stayed silent, waiting for the real reason.

"YOU DISOBEYED ME YET AGAIN, MARTIN." he suddenly boomed as he pushed himself off of the couch in one swift motion, towering over me again just like he was two minutes ago. "I told you to give them dreams, yes, but I did not tell you to _give them clues as to WHERE YOU WERE_. I told you to give them clues to come here, thinking they were going to save you but ultimately ending up in my clutches. Otherwise, I'd get their DNA myself and then kill them, but keep you alive, just to watch you suffer. _WHAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?"_

"I will never let you hurt them, that's why I didn't give do what you asked." I said, rushing the words out of my mouth.

"You stupid, stupid young girl," he snapped, pushing me down against the floor again. I could faintly hear the crack of my skull against the floor before he started screaming again.

But I wasn't listening. I told myself since the very first day that I would never let the Man in Red hurt my friends. Even if I wasn't safe, they would be. They'd be away from harm. I wanted them to save me, yes. That was only because I loved spending time with that lot; I loved being around them and solving ancient mysteries.

I was the Chosen One. I was chosen to put together the Cup of Ankh. I fulfilled my destiny. Now it was my duty to keep my friends safe. They had all of me.

Sure, I'd seen them at night. I'd given them dreams. But each of the dreams had only last about ten minutes or less before I sent them back. I only see them for ten minutes a day.

I still remembered Fabian's promise to me in my first year - _"I will not give up; on Sarah, the quest, and certainly not on you."_ It was the only thing keeping me alive. He told me he wouldn't give up on me, and through it all, I still believed him. I trusted him more than anyone in the world. I trust Fabian, I really do . . . I trust him.

Though they all were still with me, I had been alone all along.

**xXx  
><strong>

**Patricia  
>Sunday, November 6th, 2011 10:00 p.m.<strong>

As always, Victor's voice was booming from the hallway as he held his pin up in the air and announced that we should all be in bed. Normally, it was quite difficult not to listen to his ridiculously loud voice, but today I wasn't focused on him. There was only one thing on my mind: Eddie Miller. (And yes, I know his last name now, thank you very much.)

I hid behind the arm of couch so Victor couldn't see me, and neither could Eddie, when he came along and left Anubis to go who-knows-where. All through today,Sibuna, which included everyone but Eddie now, had a huge meeting with everyone, including Mara, Jerome, and Joy. We discussed pretty much everything: Nina, Shadowland, Eddie - I think we mostly covered everything.

I don't even know how long I was crouching behind the arm of the couch, but once I heard footsteps from the hallway, peeked over the arm the slightest bit, and noticed it was Eddie, I pushed myself off of my spot on the floor, and I almost lost my balance because my legs were so unsteady.

I ignored the unsteadiness, and followed Eddie out of Anubis House, leaving the door open this time. Eddie had approached me this morning, saying he knew he was following me the previous night. I knew I had to be more discreet this time.

So I followed Eddie, staying a good pace behind him so he wouldn't see me. He walked about a quarter of a mile before he started to walk into the woods.

This time, I followed him. I told myself that I would be the one to figure out his secrets, and if this was the way to do it, well, I'd take some scratches and bruises any day if it meant breaking someone into a million pieces.

I tried to be quiet while stepping on leaves and brush - I tried to keep my pace with his so he wouldn't hear separate footsteps. I thought it was easy - too easy. It stayed this way: Eddie kept walking through the woods, never looking back. It was like he was possessed, almost; his head never swayed, he never looked to the side to check if he was going the wrong way.

It was like he knew where he was going by heart, like he hadn't only been in the UK for 4 days. I almost couldn't believe it myself, but it was true: Eddie had only been in the UK for 4 whole days.

It continued for a while. I had absolutely no idea where Eddie was going, so it didn't help when I went blind again.

It didn't occur to me that Nina's presence was near. I completely forgot about the reason I went blind in the first place when I was suddenly following the ridiculous boy and everything went black.

"Oh, COME ON!" I screamed to no one, as I couldn't even see anyone anymore. Even through my disability, I tried to focus on my advantage: hearing. Even though I couldn't see anything, I sure as hell could hear it.

I focused on Eddie. I was aiming to hear the crunch of twigs, the sway of leaves in the trees, but instead I heard something much more valuable.

I didn't know where he was, but it was most definitely Eddie's voice. He was talking to somebody, and based on Eddie's constant replies, I figured the person was responding to him as well - the thing was, I could not hear the person he was talking to. As hard as I tried, I could not hear them.

I almost sort of felt like my advantage was failing me. I could hear anything in the entire world, and I couldn't hear the _one measly person Eddie was talking to?_

I was about to turn away and try to walk home through my blindness when I heard a new voice that obviously wasn't the original person Eddie was talking to. Before, he was talking in a soft tone, whispering - but kindly, like he was concerned about the person. He didn't even mention their name, which infuriated me beyond belief, but anyway; it was obvious this new voice was a new one.

"Ah, Miller," the new voice said in a male British accent, "How are you today?"

I couldn't see the face, obviously; I could only hear them. I wasn't sure where they were, who the people Eddie was talking to were, or even what they were talking about because I _still couldn't hear the person who Eddie was talking to originally._

Eddie didn't answer for a second, but I heard one single footstep and one millisecond after the single footstep, Eddie announced, obviously through clenched teeth, "Fine. Just fine."

"Can you tell me more, Edison?" The voice said. I could tell the voice was toying with Eddie, trying to fry him for something - but what was that _something_?

"Don't call me Edison, and maybe we'll have a deal." Eddie stated simply. I took note of his full name - it might be useful later on. I heard another single footstep and Eddie finally said, "A girl was following me the other day. I learned her name was Patricia."

I barely had time to process his statement before the other voice said, "Ah, Patricia Williamson. Yes, she's a feisty one. I'll be keeping a close eye on her from now on. Anything else, boy?"

"Not that I know of, no. Nobody was really home today, or doing anything for that matter. They all gathered around in one big group today, though . . ."

"Figure it out, boy," the voice growled, "or else."

"Yessir," Eddie muttered, and I heard a door slam. I wished I could see the door, but hey! Things don't always turn out the way you planned to.

I rolled my eyes after listening for another few minutes and not hearing anything, planning to leave the scene, but before I left, I heard Eddie's voice again. It was most definitely Eddie's voice, and what he said made me jump out of my socks.

"Nina, isn't the Man in Red such a meanie?"

And that was when I ran home to Anubis House.

**xXx**

**Nina  
>Shadowland<br>Sunday, November 6th, 2011 10:49 p.m.**

_Don't tell him he was hitting you don't tell him he was hitting you don't tell him he was hitting you._

"Nina, what's wrong?" Eddie asked as he walked in through the door, sitting next to me on the couch.

_Don't let him see the bruises don't let him see the bruises don't let him see the bruises._

"Nothing," I stated simply, my head turned away from him so he couldn't see the bruises and the cuts on my face. I couldn't let Eddie see the injuries; he'd ask what was wrong, and I don't think I could tell him the story without breaking down in tears.

"Are you sure?" he inquired, the curiosity in his voice reaching a whole new level.

_Don't let him see you're lying don't let him see you're lying don't let him see you're lying._

"I'm fine. I'm absolutely positive."

"Then why aren't you facing me?"

"Because I fell earlier, and my face looks horrid."

"I'm sure you don't look horrid," he said sympathetically, and when he grabbed my chin to turn it his way, I was surprised to find he didn't cringe; he didn't tell me how disgusting I looked, or even ask me what happened. All he said was: "Are you okay? Don't tell me you're fine, because you're not."

"But I am fine -"

"Bullshit, Nina."

I sighed and placed my arms around his neck, careful not to choke him this time. "Yeah, I'm not. You're right. But I just need you here with me, okay? Can you stay the night?" I pleaded.

He cringed this time, and judging by his expression, I could tell that he was overwhelmed by guilt. "As much as I wish I could, Nina, there's a girl in my house in Anubis House who seems to growing suspicious of me. If I don't return in the morning, she might suspect something and tell Mr. Sweet . . . which actually wouldn't be that big of a deal."

"Why not?" I asked, removing my grip from around his neck. He answered, "Well, Mr. Sweet just happens to be my father."

As much as I tried to contain it, a laugh escaped from my lips, but as soon as I heard it, I covered my mouth; that didn't help much, as I continued laughing. "Come on, Nines," Eddie complained, "it isn't that big of a deal. Stop laughing."

"I'm sorry," I said, still laughing, which probably didn't make him feel much better. I contained my laughter, but before I could say anything else, my stomach growled.

I didn't pay much attention to it; the Man in Red didn't feed me much, but I'd grown accustomed to the amount of food he gave me, so it was a surprise why my stomach was growling. I cringed, trying to slink away, but before anything happened, Eddie said, "You must be hungry. Is there a kitchen here?"

I closed my eyes and said, "Take the hallway to the right and it's the second door on the right." I considered lying, but it was Eddie; he'd find it himself, and even if there wasn't one, he'd find the tools to _make_ a kitchen. So it was no use lying to him. I pushed myself off of the couch, following him down the hallway, but didn't give any emotion when Eddie scoured the kitchen, only to find no food. He looked at me with those hazel eyes of his, and I lowered my gaze, ashamed.

"No food . . ." Eddie mused, listening to the continual growl of my stomach. "Hm . . . well, Nina, we're going to have to fix that."

* * *

><p><em>You turn a cheek, they slap the other one<br>Don't try to step out of line, they'll stomp on anyone  
>You start to think, "What if everyone would stop being so weak, just stand up for once?"<br>I won't walk away, I've got a lot to say.  
>I thought that I was free; they took that all from me<em>  
><em>They told me I should back down, all around, not a sound, dirty little freak<br>But this is how we bleed, and we ain't gonna stop now, a penny for your thoughts now  
>A bullet for your dreams<em>  
>~Hedley, "Bullet for Your Dreams"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Wow, this chapter was absolutely horrible! High five! *hits computer screen*  
>God, I am not just saying this for pity. I had such a case of writer's block, but because I made a commitment, I had to finish this before Monday, so I kind of just spit it out. Yeah, I know it sucks. I know it could be better. It could be much better if I didn't only have 6 days to edit it. Well, I have 7 new days to write chapter 29, so maybe that'll be better!<br>Next chapter includes more Peddie! :D They go to the Supermarket. Why, you may ask? Well, you'll have to wait 7 days to find out. Patricia, do you want to do the Disclaimer today?  
>Patricia: If I do the disclaimer, do I get a dream?<br>Me: No, Patricia, you do not get a dream. Stop trying to cheat, because you know you never get a dream.  
>Patricia: So what's in it for me?<br>Me: You don't get to interact with Eddie for a whole chapter!  
>Patricia: Good enough for me! Smiley612 does not own House of Anubis, and she never will. Can you give me my gift now?<br>Sorry, I had to do it * . * I do hope you enjoyed, and I hope you have a sparkling day!**~*  
><strong>~Julianna<strong>


	29. The Supermarket

**A/N - I just noticed that Patricia is getting A LOT of POV's in the latest chapters. Which is funny, because out of all the characters, she's the only one that doesn't get a dream - Oops, no spoilers (:  
>This is going to be a long chapter, but it's FILLED with Peddie moments, so I think it's worth it ;) I'm going to keep this as short as possible, so I do hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope you have a sparkling day (:<br>~Julianna  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Patricia<br>Monday, November 7th, 2011 1:59 p.m.  
><strong>

The end of the school day had finally come. Normally, I'd be rushing out of the school by now and racing against Alfie and Jerome to see who could reach the house first, but Fabian had called us all in the drama room to discuss our next move in our search for Nina.

I was walking with Mara and Joy at my side, and as it turned out, we were the last ones to arrive. Everyone else was already here - and I mean everyone - Fabian, Amber, Mick, Jerome, and Alfie. Mara, Joy, and I were the only ones missing, so it was no surprise when Fabian groaned with exasperation when we arrived.

"Finally, Patricia! We were starting to think you'd never show up," he rolled his eyes after my statement, but I ignored him and sat down across from him on the couch, as we were in the drama room.

"Yeah, well, I had to get something from my locker, and Mara didn't want to walk in here alone," I explained.

"Whatever," Fabian waved me off, and took something out of his bag. He placed it on his lap, and I saw it was Sibuna's Dream Log.

"I had a dream on Saturday night," Fabian began, like he always did. "Nina and I were walking around the house that's in Shadowland - it's a really big house, and it's hard to explain, so that's why I'm asking Amber to draw it for me." He handed the Log to Amber, who was sitting right next to him.

She looked up in shock, as she was picking at her perfectly manicured nails only two seconds ago. "What?" she asked, and he explained it again. "Oh," she said, "sure." she closed her eyes, trying to imagine the house (which I had never seen before.)

Whether I liked it or not, Amber was now my partner in everything. I was the One Who Can Hear, and Amber was the One Who Can See. She had perfect sight, and could see anything she wanted to with a perfect view. I was kind of jealous of Amber's gift - I got the perfect hearing out of the two of us, and hearing doesn't really do much to help.

I wanted to help. I was one of the first members of Sibuna, after the original three: Amber, Nina, and Fabian. I joined shortly after them. I was like a senior in Sibuna compared to some of the new recruits like Mara and Joy. I wanted to help Fabian look for Nina, but I couldn't do that if I _didn't get a dream_.

Today marked week three of Nina's disappearance. She had been gone for exactly twenty-one days, since October 17th. And in those three weeks, I had not gotten a single dream, and I felt kind of left out. Only Amber and Fabian understood what the dreams felt like, and could understand them completely.

Amber walked out of the drama room, obviously infatuated with her drawing, so she had to leave to concentrate. Fabian pulled something out of his coat pocket that was glowing a vibrant red, and when I caught sight of it, I saw that it was Nina's locket.

"What's that?" Mara and Joy asked simultaneously, as they didn't have any prior knowledge of the search for the Cup of Ankh last year.

"It's Nina's locket," Fabian began. "Amber and I found it by the edge of the woods on day two of Nina's disappearance. The only thing is . . . it won't stop glowing. It hasn't stopped glowing since we found it. Nina told me in a dream like two weeks ago that it was a signal, but she wouldn't tell me what it means . . . any ideas what the glowing means?"

We all spit out some random ideas, like day verses night, or if she's having a good day or a bad day, but after we thought about it, none of them added up. "She said something about fighting. That she won't stop fighting, so the locket won't stop glowing." Fabian had an epiphany just then, because his eyes grew to the size of tennis balls and was saying, "Oh. Oh. _Oh._"

"Care to tell us why you're acting like that?" Jerome cocked an eyebrow, looking up from his notebook.

Fabian didn't answer for a moment, and I was just about to ask him what was wrong when he took a deep breath, and said, ever so quietly, "The locket . . . it's her signal . . . she said she wouldn't stop fighting and she'd keep the locket glowing . . . the locket's her signal of telling us if she's dead or alive. If it's glowing . . . she's alive, but if it's not . . ."

None of dared to say a word. Fabian continued:

"If it's not glowing . . . Nina's dead."

**xXx**

**2:13 p.m.**

After Fabian's announcement, no one stayed. We were either too shocked to stay, or just didn't want to hear of what would happen if the locket ever dared to stop glowing. I was one of the people who left after his announcement; I was still annoyed beyond belief that I was one of the original Sibuna's and Nina still didn't send me a dream after three weeks.

When I followed Eddie last night, I had heard him talking to someone, but I couldn't hear them. Later, I heard him say that it was Nina he was talking to. The question had haunted me all night: Why couldn't I hear Nina, of all people, and why Eddie was with Nina.

He had been in the UK for five measly days. How could he have already weaved himself into trouble with the Man in Red and Nina? How could he know who Nina is? He had come in after her disappearance; and why was he involved with the Man in Red. I knew from the second I saw him that he was trouble, but I never knew he could weave himself into the Man in Red's day.

I hadn't told Sibuna about Eddie yet. I wasn't sure myself - I didn't know if it was just my imagination. But I knew one thing for sure: Eddie had somehow worked himself into Nina and the Man in Red's lives.

I was walking by myself. Mara and Joy had a million and one questions, so they stayed behind to talk to Fabian about the mystery, the dreams, and all that other crap. So I was walking by myself in the hallways of the school, with no one else but myself.

Well, I thought I was alone, at least; until I saw Eddie.

Or heard him, rather. After all, I did have the gift of hearing, so I guess it kicked in - but no, not around Nina, the _fucking one person in the world I couldn't hear at all_ - and I heard Eddie talking to, of all people, Mr. Sweet.

I tip-toed over to the door, leaning my ear against it. My hearing was in high gear, and I could hear every word, every footstep, every shuffle. I realized I was actually achieving my goal: I was learning Eddie's secrets.

The first word I heard was from Eddie: "Dad, please?"

A laugh was about to escape my lips, but I placed my hand over my mouth so Mr. Sweet, nor Eddie could hear anything. I couldn't believe my ears - Sweetie was _Eddie's dad_? It was priceless. I turned my attention back to the father-son conversation. Mr. Sweet began to speak: "No, Edison."

"But why not?" Eddie protested.

"I am not giving you money to buy yourself food, when your House Mother provides you with amazing food every day." Mr. Sweet was saying.

"I don't even like it," Eddie said, almost too quickly, like he was making an excuse up on the spot. "I don't like Trudy's cooking. It tastes . . . off."

"I've tasted Trudy's cooking myself, son, and I know it isn't bad," Mr. Sweet, the dad, said. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm American. I like different foods than you Brits. Why can't you just give me like thirty dollars or something so I can buy some food at the Supermarket? It could last me a week or two, and maybe by then I'd learn to appreciate Trudy's cooking. I don't like it at all."

I scoffed quietly. What was he talking about? Eddie eats Trudy's cooking like a horse, devouring every bite. It was obvious he was lying. I continued listening, and Mr. Sweet said, "Eddie, you've in a whole new continent now. You should know that we have a different currency."

"Yeah, whatever. Could you just please give me some money? I promise I'll eat my House Mother's cooking after that. I just want some good old American food for a while. Please?" Eddie begged.

I could hear Mr. Sweet hesitate, but he said, " . . . Fine. I'll give you 20 euros. Spend it well, Edison, or I won't ever give you money again."

"Agreed," Eddie told him. I waited a few seconds, but it never occurred to me to move, because the next thing I knew, a wooden door was being slammed into my face.

"Wow, that hurt," I hissed at Eddie from where he was standing on the opposite side of the hallway.

"What are you doing here, Yacker?" He barked, his hazel eyes flaring. I crossed my arms, glaring right back at him. He gave me a nickname, so I was about to give him one.

"Listening, Cockroach. So Mr. Sweet's your dad? And why do you want money? Why do you want to go to the Supermarket? Tell me now, or I go and report you to Trudy," I sneered. I couldn't report him to Mr. Sweet, obviously. He sighed, realizing his mistake, cursing under his breath.

"Okay, Patricia. You're an annoying bitch, but because I can't let you report this to Trudy, you're going to come with me. There's only three things that you're forbidden to ask: Why I'm going there, what I'm getting, and who it's for."

"Oh, it's for someone?" I questioned as Eddie and I walked out the door from school and into the street that led to the Supermarket. I heard Eddie sigh and mutter, "This is going to be a long day."

**xXx**

**2:55 p.m.**

We arrived at the Supermarket about thirty minutes later. Eddie pushed through the door, and when he jogged ahead of me, possibly to lose me in the rush of people, I sped my pace up to catch up with him. He wasn't about to lose me now.

"Alright, Weasel; why are we here?" I asked as I finally jogged up to his side, even though he was searching through an aisle to find something, but that something was what I didn't know - and what I had to find out.

"That's one of the forbidden questions, Patricia," Eddie deadpanned, even though he wasn't looking at me - he was too busy searching for bottles of water.

"I don't understand, though. You love Trudy's cooking. Why are you buying something for yourself - WAIT!" I screamed, remembering something I heard in the school. "You told Mr. Sweet - your dad - that you were buying it for yourself, but in the hallway you said I couldn't ask who it was for, meaning it wasn't for you. You lied to him?"

"Yes," Eddie said, like he knew I was going to ask the question, and like his answer didn't faze him the slightest bit, almost like he didn't care that he lied to his father. "You figured it out, Patricia. You're so smart," he remarked sarcastically.

"So who's it for?" I wondered, walking with him. He placed six bottles of water into the basket, and walked to the next aisle, which contained frozens.

"Again; one of the forbidden questions. I am not going to tell you who it's for, and I'm 100% positive you won't be able to guess who it's for if you tried." He stated simply, and opened the door to grab a frozen from the shelf.

"Fine, I'll guess, and I'm more than certain I'll get it right. Is it for your dad?"

"Nope."

"Your mum?"

"She's not even on this continent."

"Your sibling?"

"I don't have a sibling."

"Your friends?"

"No."

"Your dad?"

"Nada."

"Your uncle?"

"Nah."

I went on like that for a while, naming random people. I even named the President as one of my guesses. But it wasn't until I was up to naming the people at Anubis that my suspicions were confirmed, and I was 100% positive that Eddie had something to do with Nina and her disappearance.

"Trudy?" I continued guessing.

"I'm the one supposedly buying food to not eat her cooking, so why would I be buying it FOR her? Be sensible, Yacker."

"Would you stop calling me that?" I complained, as Eddie and I were now walking into the canned soups aisle. Eddie's basket was quickly filling up with food. We had been in the Supermarket for about twenty minutes, and I still hadn't guessed who Eddie was buying it for.

Eddie smirked at my question, and shook his head to deny my request. "Nah - you talk too much, so your new name is Yacker."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his annoying, ridiculous voice. "Whatever, Slimeball. Are you here for Fabian?"

Eddie groaned, while he was placing a chicken noodle soup can in his red basket. The red color reminded me too much of the Man in Red, and when I remembered that Eddie had something to do with him, my blood boiled. I remembered my vow to myself that I would be the one to uncover Eddie's secrets and break him into a million pieces, so there was nothing else for him to live for. "No, Patricia, I am not here for Fabian. Would you _please_ stop asking me who I'm getting it for?"

"Nah, I don't want to," I answered, laughing. "So, is it for Mick?"

"No."

"Aww . . ." I began again, blushing obnoxiously. "Eddie, is it for me? Are you getting food for me?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, you wish."

"Jerome?" I began my cycle again.

"Nope," he said, popping the _p_.

"Alfie?"

"No."

"Mara?"

He shook his head.

"Amber?"

"No."

We were in the hallway between two of the aisles. The next thing we'd say would ultimately shatter Sibuna's world.

"Nina?" I asked him, continuing my list.

You want to know what he did? He stopped. He stopped. _HE FREAKING STOPPED._ He stopped in his tracks, turned to face me, and he said nothing. He said nothing. _HE FREAKING SAID NOTHING._

Then, he had the nerve to say something. "No."

_HE HESITATED. HE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH NINA. HE SAID NOTHING. HE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH NINA._

The thought was echoing through my mind, bouncing back and fourth against my brain.

_EDDIE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH NINA._

**xXx  
><strong>

**3:20 p.m.**

I rarely spoke to Eddie in the Supermarket after I realized he really did have something to do with Nina. I kept my distance from him while he did his shopping. I was scanning a case of Nutella when Eddie came over and said, "So, did the Yacker stop yacking?"

I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to look at him. "Shut up, dumbass."

"Ooh, watch your language," Eddie laughed at his own joke as he walked away, chuckling to himself. He was an obnoxious asshole, and I didn't really give a shit about him. But as I watched him walk away, I felt a twinge of jealousy, and I don't know where it came from.

It was another five minutes later, and we were in another aisle when I asked him, "I know you were talking to Nina yesterday. I heard you. I followed you. And I heard the Man in Red. Tell me now, or I report you. What do you know about the Man in Red?"

He turned around, and his hazel eyes met my blue-green ones. "That, I can't tell you."

"Why not?" I complained, thinking this was just another one of "forbidden questions" that I was about to ask him, even though it was forbidden; but to my surprise, his look was dead serious.

"Because if I tell you, I won't be alive tomorrow."

My heart beat. _Thump_. What did he mean? '_I won't be alive tomorrow_'? Did he mean . . . "Do you mean the Man in Red will kill you if you tell me?"

His face showed no emotion as he slowly placed a loaf of bread into his basket. He didn't answer me, but I took his silence as a "yes". And there was the beating of my heart again.

"How did you get involved with him?" I mumbled, but loud enough so he could hear me.

"A note," was all Eddie said. He didn't specify, didn't tell me what the note said, or why he came here in the first place. I had one more question for him that I was planning to ask.

"Do you know Nina Martin?" was my question.

When he looked me in the eye again, a chill went down my spine, and he said in a very serious, gravelly voice, "What do you think?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Ah, the chapter's finished *.* I came up with this idea one day, and I just had to write it in . . . oh yeah, and I have to tell you something.  
>The date is March 7th, 2013. I just finished watching the latest episode of House of Anubis (House of Eclipse), and that scene where Eddie put his hand on KT's shoulder I was screaming at the TV, "NO EDDIE YOU LOVE PATRICIA GET THAT HAND OFF OF KT'S SHOULDER YOU STILL LOVE PATRICIA STOP DENYING IT" and I continued to yell it through the entire scene, so I don't remember any of the dialogue because I was screaming my head off. So I just thought I'd reward you guys with some Peddie in this chapter (:<strong>  
><strong>I do hope you enjoyed, and I hope you have a sparkling day!~*<strong>  
><strong>~Julianna<strong>


	30. Ignorance is Bliss

**A/N - I originally planned for this chapter to be more than 8,000 words, but I cut it in two, so this is going to be the first chapter of Mara's story. I have yet to figure out what to name it. I'll probably come up with a name on the spot, or something.  
>I don't particularly like how this came out, but since we're on chapter 30 (THIRTY. FREAKING. CHAPTERS. AND. 100,000. WORDS. OH. MY. GOD.), I don't really care anymore.I do hope you enjoy the thirtieth chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!<br>~Julianna  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Mara<br>Monday, November 8th, 2011 2:44 p.m.  
><strong>

As the person was dragging me into the trees with my helpless self, I only had one thought echoing throughout my head.

_This is what happened to Nina._

See, I was walking home alone, the same as Nina was doing on October 17th. Fabian had told me only a few days ago, when Jerome and Joy were eavesdropping, and Jerome dragged me upstairs to listen to Fabian's explanation. That was when Fabian explained that Nina went missing because she was kidnapped as she walking home.

That was what happened to me.

The day was Monday, and Fabian called everyone in Sibuna - which was everyone in Anubis House now, excluding Eddie - for a meeting in the drama room after school. We discovered that if the locket stopped glowing, than it meant Nina was dead. Joy and I had tons of questions, so we stayed behind to ask Fabian for answers.

He gratefully answered them. When I was satisfied with what I had, I left the drama room, but Joy had to get something from her locker, so I was left to walk home alone. And that was when it happened.

The person didn't even say a word. I was rounding the corner to Anubis House when a cold hand covered my mouth and a strong arm grabbed me around the waist. I was too shocked to scream or thrash, or do anything to protect myself. I simply let the person, who I didn't see the face of, drag me into the trees. I didn't know if I'd never see the daylight again, or my friends again, or even Jerome, my boyfriend. I let the man drag me into oblivion.

As the person was dragging me into the trees with my helpless self, I only had one thought echoing throughout my head.

_This is what happened to Nina._

**xXx**

**Fabian  
>Monday, November 7th, 2011 3:10 p.m.<strong>

Mara and Joy had some questions to ask me after the Sibuna meeting in the drama room, so I had to stay behind to answer them. That was okay for me, though; I wanted to get the fact that if Nina's locket ever dared to stop glowing, it meant she was dead, out of my head.

After Mara and Joy left, I walked home a little later, after gathering my stuff. I opened the door to Anubis House, and met the welcoming smell of Trudy's cooking. I loved the smell of my ten-month home.

I smiled as I set my bag down in my room and sat next to Amber on the couch. She noticed me next to her, and asked, "Did you have a dream last night?"

I shook my head. "No. Were you even at the Sibuna meeting an hour ago? Wait, I asked you to draw the house in Shadowland. Do you have the drawing?"

She nodded and pulled it out of her bag, handing it to me. I gasped when I saw it, just like I was amazed when I saw Amber's first drawing of Shadowland. Somehow, I lost the first drawing. I tore my room apart looking for it, but it was nowhere to be found. Now, though, Amber's skill had obviously improved, because the drawing of Shadowland's House was much better than the actual drawing of Shadowland itself.

I was admiring Amber's work when she asked me, "Do you know where Patricia is?"

I shook my head, not daring to move my gaze from her Amber's new masterpiece. "No idea. She left after the Sibuna meeting . . . wait, why do you want to know where she is?"

"She's my partner now, remember?" she reminded me; like I needed reminding. "I'm the One Who Can See, and Patricia's the One Who Can Hear. We're supposed to be partners in everything now, so I was just wondering where she went."

I had almost forgotten about Amber and Patricia's pact. It was weird to see them work together in anything; normally, Amber and Patricia couldn't hold a conversation for five minutes before either one of them had to resist the urge to strangle each other.

I started to compliment Amber on the drawing again when Jerome approached me. I lifted my head to meet his ice-cold blue eyes, which were full of worry. "What's wrong, Jerome?" I asked him.

"Fabian, have you heard from Mara?" he inquired, his eyes widening in hope that I had heard from the girl who made Honor Roll six years in a row.

I nodded. "Yeah. I was just talking with her before in the school. She had some questions, and I had the answers. She left to go home a while ago. Why?"

"Fabian," Amber whispered into my ear, "this is just like what happened three weeks ago. Nina had to stay after school for something, and when she was walking home, she was kidnapped. What . . . what if that happened to Mara too?"

"Oh, God," Jerome muttered, turning away and running his hands through his thick sandy-blonde hair. "This is not good. Rutter, you are not telling me Mara was kidnapped by the psycho rapist who kidnapped Nina three weeks ago. Are you?"

"I think I am," I murmured, almost to myself. Jerome was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. I was about to get up off of the couch and comfort him, telling him that if Nina could have survived three weeks of living in Shadowland, Mara could take whatever was coming at her, but I was interrupted by the ringing of my phone in my pocket. I picked it up and stared at the caller ID.

The first ring passed, and I didn't answer it.

The second ring passed, and I still didn't answer it.

The third ring passed, and the ringing continued.

Amber slapped my shoulder. "Answer it," she growled into my ear. I knew she saw who the caller was too, and I was surprised at why she was so calm. I gathered up the courage and pressed the green _answer_ button.

"Nina?" I spoke into the receiver, the panic in my voice rising. The caller ID on my phone only seconds ago showed the name _Nina_. My girlfriend. My girlfriend, who was missing. The missing girl. Who was casually calling me on my cell phone.

"Fabian, thank God you answered," Nina breathed, but her tone sounded rushed. "Listen, I need your help. You need to get my locket and go into the woods and find a specific tree. I don't know what tree, but you need to find a tree. Fabian, you need to come. You need to come _right now_. And bring Jerome. God damn it, bring Jerome. You need to bring Jerome. Just come. You need to come right now. Oh, God, Fabian -"

The panic in her voice was abruptly stopped by the sickening voice I knew all too well.

"Yes, _Fabian_, I have a deal for you," I heard the Man in Red hiss into the receiver. "I want you to bring yourself and the rest of the people who live in Anubis House into Shadowland, or I'll kill your pretty friend."

A jolt of shock ran through my veins, but I responded carefully and casually, "Nina wouldn't let you kill her."

The Man in Red laughed, and a chill ran through my spine. I hated hearing his laugh, but it haunted me day and night, permanently etched into my memory. "Oh, silly boy. I won't be killing Nina. You should know by now that I _can't_ kill her, as I'm sure you know the real reason I brought her here, thanks to her ignorance." There was a pause, but soon enough, the Man in Red spoke again. "I have another one of your friends. I think her name is Mara."

Hearing her name, Jerome ripped my cell phone from my hands and screamed into the receiver: "_DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO MARA, YOU CREEP!"_

MIR laughed yet again. "Ah, Jerome," he sneered from the other line. "Mara's little boyfriend. Well, you should know I took her for a reason, just like I took the Chosen One for a reason exactly three weeks ago. I will keep Mara locked up here for longer and hurt both of them. I will break her into a million pieces until there's nothing left for her to live for, or to look forward to. If all you people at Anubis House don't show your faces in Shadowland by Friday, the 11th, or I will kill Mara Jaffray. Things wouldn't look too good for Nina Martin either."

And he hung up.

**XxX**

**Mara**  
><strong>Shadowland<strong>  
><strong>Monday, November 7th, 2011 5:32 p.m.<strong>

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was the pain.

I was lying on my side in one of the most painful positions possible. My head was leaning against the cold wooden floor, and the side of my head was throbbing; I guessed the person who had taken me from the sidewalk had tossed me in here, and I had landed on my head.

I don't know why I knew that. Only two seconds after the person had placed his cold hand around my mouth, I had blacked out. I was too scared, too frightened, to fully understand what was going on. I didn't know how to get out of it, so I let him take me, and now I was face down on a wooden floor.

Ignoring the throbbing pain coming from the side of my head, I slowly pushed myself up off the floor. I heard something jangle behind me, and when I flipped my head around, I felt something on my wrists. When I caught sight of them, I learned that chains were attached to my wrists.

I could have tried prying them off, but I knew it was useless. My breathing rate sped up and up until I was hyperventilating.

The reality hit me full on: I was kidnapped. I was now officially a kidnapee. My face would be on people's television's everywhere. I would be declared missing. I would be locked in a room for the rest of my short life, if my kidnapper had the decency to keep my alive. I would be underfed. I would be just like Nina was right now. I was kidnapped.

I continued hyperventilating as I looked around the room. In the cold, damp, dark air, I noticed that the room I was locked in was a square room, with dirt and soot covering the floor. There was a broken chair lying down right smack in the middle of the room.

I could hear foorsteps and muted whispers coming from somewhere else, but I was alone in this room. This was my captive room. I would be locked in here for the rest of my life, chained to the wall like some rabid animal.

My breath was shortening when I finally started crying. The tears starting falling down my cheeks. I knew that I couldn't get out of this one; I would be locked in here forever. The tears were sliding down my face, and I could tell through my sobs that I was whispering something.

"Help," I could finally make out my own voice after the sobs died down a little. "Help . . . help . . ." I cried out, calling for someone, but a small part of me knew that I was alone here. "Help! Help! Someone, please help!"

When I heard no answer, I started crying again. My breath was shortening out when I started breathing heavily. I was a mess.

I would never get to see Jerome again. We had only just started our relationship a week ago, on Halloween night. We'd only been a couple for a measly seven days, and I would never see him again. I'd never see Patricia, Amber, Alfie, or anyone else in Anubis House ever again.

I could feel myself falling. I didn't know if I was dying or going to sleep, but right before I fell into the unknown, a voice interrupted me.

"Mara!" the voice cried. "Mara! Calm down! Please calm down! Look at me. Everything's going to be all right. Look at me. Stop crying. Please stop crying and look at me."

Where did I know that voice from? It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I knew, though, that I had heard it before, somewhere, somehow. The voice continued its pleas: "Mara! Please! Please calm down and stop screaming! Please!"

And that's when I noticed that all I saw was black. I couldn't place the voice because I couldn't see the face. I wasn't blind, like Patricia went blind, but my eyes were closed. I was too scared to keep them open before, so I closed them. I slowly opened my eyes, feeling the wet tears in my eyes as I opened them. My eyes immediately recognized the face.

The voice that was trying to calm me was Nina. It was her; the same messy light-brown hair, and that look in her eyes that told people she knew what she was doing. Now, though, the look of confidence was replaced with a pleading look. She was begging for me to calm down.

Unfortunately, her face didn't compute well. I still didn't completely understand the whole "Sibuna" concept, but Fabian had told me that Nina wasn't dead. She was never dead. But before Friday, I had honestly believed that she was dead. Hearing the news that she had never died didn't really slide with me.

"God, Mara, please stop crying!" she begged, as the tears starting falling again. I was chained to the wall of a small room while the side of my head was bleeding. The physical pain and the emotional pain were too much to bear. I didn't know how else to handle the situation than to cry.

It was too overwhelming for me. It didn't seem overwhelming to Nina, obviously, as she rubbed my back awkwardly, obviously an attempt to calm me down. My parents did the same exact thing when I was younger to calm me down, so eventually, with the tears still wet on my face, I calmed myself down, and I heard Nina say, "Thank you. Mara, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to help you. I'm going to release the chains on your wrist. I just thought I'd tell you, so you don't freak out or anything."

I didn't say anything. All I did was nod, and in the blink of an eye, Nina had unattached the chains from my wrist. I was rubbing the spots where the bruises were forming, when Nina asked me, "Mara, are you okay?"

I didn't think I was emotionally stable enough to answer, but I murmured, "Yeah . . . what - what happened?"

Nina took a deep breath, and sat down next to me. She thinned her white dress out. Why did she have a dress?

The next thing I knew, I was staring at my own dress. Instead of a white dress, I wore a dark blue velvet dress that flew all the way to my ankles. I didn't have time to question why I was in a blue velvet dress, because Nina was answering my question.

"I don't know what happened. I woke up to find you in my room, chained to the wall, passed out on the floor. I ran out, and I didn't come back in until you started crying."

_So it's Nina's room I'm in_, was my first thought.

"Wait," I whispered, interrupting Nina's next thought, "Why are you here?" I asked, aiming my question at the girl next to me.

"We're in Shadowland," Nina explained. "I'm presuming you know what Shadowland is. Long story short, it's a prison. Anyway, the Man in Red kidnapped you. And now we're both in Shadowland. Welcome, new roomie!" Nina exclaimed, an attempt to lighten the mood.

A voice from another room shouted, "YOU'RE NOT FUNNY, NINA."

"SHUT UP!" Nina yelled back to the voice, but she didn't sound angry. She caught my gaze again, and rolled her eyes. "Just ignore him. He's being annoying."

I didn't even have time to ask who 'he' was, before Nina started talking again. "How did you get here?" was the question she asked me. I told her the story of how the person had taken me off guard, so I didn't think of the logical thing to do. Nina was about to tell me more about something - probably Shadowland - when a figure walked through the door.

Nina said immediately, "What are you doing here? It's not your schedule."

The person standing through the doorway was a man. He had dark brown hair, almost the same color as Fabian's, and ice-cold blue eyes that even made your soul feel cold. He was relatively short; he couldn't have been taller than Patricia, which was saying something, since Patricia is one of the smallest people in the House.

He chuckled softly, and I saw Nina cringe, like she didn't enjoy the sound of the man's laughter. "Ah, Martin, you should know by now that I can come any time I want. Normally, I would be on schedule, but I just wanted to see that my new captive here was alive and well," he aimed his ice-cold blue eyes at me.

"I'm not letting you hurt Mara," Nina said, more confident than I would ever be. It surprised me; I knew that if Fabian or Amber were in my place, Nina would be protecting them at all costs. They were her friends. I barely knew her. I didn't even want any part of this search at first; Jerome had to talk me into it. Why would Nina be protecting me? "Why did you take Mara, of all people?"

"Because she knows the answer to everything," he said, with a sickening smile plastered on his face. "That's Mara's power: knowledge. She knows anything she wants to. She is the Seeker. And that's why I took her: so I can get whatever I want out of her. I will torture her if I have to. And Martin, you of all people should know that I'm telling the truth."

Nina winced and hugged her chest, as if reliving a bad memory. The Man in Red had just suggested that he was physically abusing her. Fabian had never told us that. Could it be true? It obviously seemed true by how Nina was reacting to his statement. Through her painful memories, she met the Man in Red's ice-cold blue eyes and said, once again, "I will not let you hurt Mara."

"I can and will, if I want to." the man said. "Now, you two girls, I would behave, because if either of you set a foot out of line, I will kill you both on sight. Not one of you, but both. Mara, you're new here. You wouldn't want to die knowing that you not only killed yourself, but Nina as well, just because you didn't understand the rules here?"

"What rules?" I asked innocently. I heard the man laugh again, and I knew that Nina didn't like the sound of his laughter when she cringed again and covered her ears in an attempt to tone him out.

"My rules are very simple," he stated. "First, you do not leave this house. Nina has already disobeyed this rule, and she thinks that I don't know that she leaves the house, but I do. If you leave this house, there will be consequences. Second, you do not interrogate me about who I am or what I do. Again, Nina has disobeyed this rule, but as she knows very well, I do not care if I hurt someone physically or emotionally, which I will do if you disobey any of my rules. Third and finally, you should know that you are never getting out of here. Ever. And if you ever think about leaving, I will hurt both of you in ways you couldn't imagine. Now, Mara, dear, you better get used to little amounts of food at feeding time, because I only feed you once a day. Goodbye, and have a nice night listening to your stomach growl!"

The room was silent. I was too afraid to say anything, and I was too numb this time to cry. I had a hard time deciphering Nina's expression, though. She didn't say a word. She never moved her gaze from the door that the man had just locked. When I asked her the question, "Who was that?" she answered, "The Man in Red," but didn't go into more details. I only heard one sentence, so quiet it was almost inaudible, utter from her mouth.

"Eddie, where are you?"

**xXx**

I didn't know what I was expecting when the doorknob turned five seconds later and Eddie walked in, embracing Nina in what would only be classified as an "Amber-Hug".

Eddie pulled Nina in so close that her head was smushed against his pitch-black tuxedo. I didn't know why, but somehow, Shadowland made whoever set foot in its perimeter change into formal clothing.

Nina was gripping onto Eddie's suit for dear life. It looked like she was afraid to let go. I didn't hear her crying, but when she pulled back and looked at Eddie's face, her eyes were bloodshot.

"I heard everything," Eddie stated. "Are you two okay?" he asked, aiming his gaze at me. He knew I was here, but yet he didn't give care if I was chained up to the wall only minutes before. Nina nodded through her viciously-red eyes, and I nodded, even though I was far from being okay.

Nina and Eddie shared a long look, and I dared to not interrupt. It was obvious they were good friends, by the way they were acting around one another.

I stared down at the broken down, rotted floor, and I commanded myself not to cry. If Nina could handle the abuse from the Man in Red and the reality of being locked in Shadowland 24/7 for the past 21 days, then I could hold my tears in right now.

It was all too much. I didn't know how long it had been since I was walking home from school, but it had been a while since the Man in Red had placed his cold hand over my mouth and dragged me into the trees, just like he had done to Nina exactly three weeks ago. I was kidnapped in here, along with Nina. I had been seeing Eddie in school and in Anubis House for only about five days. In that small amount of time, I didn't see his face a lot, but he was in there enough that I learned his last name and his eye color.

Sure, he'd been disappearing, according to Fabian and Mick, but he'd always come back to Anubis House. Now, we knew where he was going. None of the three of us said anything, but Eddie turned his attention to me and spoke his very first sentence to me: "We're going to try to get you out of here."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Me? Why?"

**xXx**

**6:30 p.m.**

Getting out of the locked room was the easy part. But getting out of the house itself? Not so easy.

Nina grunted and slid down against the wall. "It's no use," she murmured. "We're not getting out of here."

Eddie sat down next to her and rubbed her back. By the way he looked at her, I could tell that he honestly cared for her, and just wanted her to be safe. "We'll get out of here. I promise. I've been getting out of here for the past five days, and we can do it again now. Besides, we need to get Mara back to Anubis House.

I shook my head while I said, "No. I'm not letting you two hurt yourselves just because of me. I don't care if you want me to be safe back at Anubis House. I'll stay here if I have to."

"No," said Nina forcefully. "We're getting you out. I've put you and the others in far too much danger. You've been helping me, and now it's my turn to help you. Don't you dare tell me not to help you, because I'm going to get your out of here, whether you like it or not."

"But -"

"_Whether you like it or not_."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Sometimes I laugh because people think 1,000 words in a chapter is a lot of words. News flash, this chapter was originally more than 7,500 words, but I cut it down to 4,200 because I know people don't like reading long chapters. (I know this is a long chapter, but honestly, how can someone live with knowing they wrote a 1,000 word chapter and deal with it? I just can't.)  
>I do hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!~*<br>~Julianna.  
><strong>


	31. Ignorance is Not Bliss

**A/N - I have a lot of things to say in this AN.  
>1) You guys said you wanted long chapters, so I'll give you long chapters. Oh, will I give you long chapters.<br>2) PEDDIE IS CANON!  
>3) ^ Sorry. Had to get that out. A girl goes crazy when her OTP is officially canon.<br>4) I HATE FANFICTION'S NEW LAYOUT.  
>5) I have a poll up on my profile. I had a hard time deciding whether this story should have a sequel, so I decided to let you guys decide! I forgot when I put it up, so it will be running until April 25th. VOTE!<br>Why am I updating this at midnight? Because I am on Spring Break and I have nothing better to do, that's why. This chapter has more than 7,000 words, so I hope my readers enjoy what they brought onto them ;D  
>~Julianna<br>**

* * *

><p><strong>Mara<br>Shadowland  
>Monday, November 8th, 2011 6:30 p.m.<strong>

"It's no use fighting her," Eddie smirked. "You're just going to lose. Mara, we're trying to help you."

"Why?" I questioned yet again. "I'm not worth fighting for. Nina has been locked in Shadowland for three weeks, and I've only been here for three hours. Nina should be the one to leave, not me."

Nina shook her head, from where she was sitting on the floor. "I can't leave. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't leave." she sighed, and leaned her head against the wall.

Eddie walked over and sat down next to her. He didn't say anything; he started rubbing her arm in an attempt to comfort her, but Nina wasn't responding to the touch.

While he was comforting her, I couldn't help wondering how the two had met, and how they became friends. Eddie had only been in the UK for five measly days. How had he weaved himself into Shadowland, and Nina's life?

He was whispering something now, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Nina hugged him, and Eddie pulled her in closer.

They were so easy together, it made my heart ache. Granted, Jerome and I had only been a couple for seven days, but we were still awkward around each other. Anyone could tell that him and I cared for each other, but we had only kissed once in seven days and we hadn't gone on any dates; or anything like that at all. I always thought Jerome was too afraid to move forward.

How had Nina and Eddie have become such good friends in only five days? I thought that if Jack and Rose could fall in love in three days, Nina and Eddie could form a friendship in five.

I heard the Man in Red's threat in my head: "_Goodbye, and have a nice night listening to your stomach growl!_" It was like he was standing over me, taunting me, because as soon as my thought ended, my stomach growled in hunger. I heard his laugh in my head, and that was when I fully understood why Nina didn't like hearing his laugh. It was disgusting.

Eddie had pulled away from Nina when he had heard my stomach growl. "Mara, are you hungry?"

I shook my head yes, and Eddie pushed himself off of the floor, heading for another room. I didn't know where he was going, but I turned my attention back to Nina, who was looking at the dirty floor as if she was ashamed.

Last year, I wasn't that close to Nina. Sure, I may have talked to her once or twice, but we never had a real conversation in the year we knew each other. If we were both locked in here forever, I wanted to get to know her. "Are _you_ hungry?" I asked, trying to start up a conversation.

She looked up from the floor. "No. Not really," she answered. I tilted my head, trying to send off the message _Tell me the truth_.

She sighed, and shook her head no. I knew she was lying; she had lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw her, on October seventeenth. It was evident that the Man in Red underfed her, but she'd probably never admit to that.

I didn't know how I knew that. I knew I was smart, but I shouldn't have known that the Man in Red underfed her. I remembered the Man in Red telling me that I was the Seeker; that my gift was knowledge, and I could know anything I wanted to. That was why he had taken me.

If I had been taken because I was the Seeker, why had Nina been taken?

I asked her, and she answered, "It's a long and complicated story. Long story short, the Man in Red wants you guys at Anubis, and not me. He took me because he knew I was close to all of you, so he'd figured he could get a better chance of getting you." she blinked, and started to stare at the floor again, like she was afraid she'd say something wrong and get beaten.

_Beaten_. The word struck a cord in me. Just like the last time, I wasn't supposed to know it, but I knew that the Man in Red had physically abused Nina since day one. He had hit her, kicked her, and just tortured her in general, but Nina would never tell anyone about it. Not even Eddie, and they were best friends.

"Mara, Nina, come follow me," Eddie called from the other hallway. I pushed myself up immediately, but Nina took longer than me to get up. I was about to offer a hand, but that was when she got up as well.

We both followed Eddie's voice into the kitchen. The first thing Nina said was, "Eddie, where did this food come from?"

Eddie smiled as he presented shelf upon shelf of food. "I went to the supermarket today," he beamed. "Of course, Patricia was annoying the crap out of me, but I managed to get enough food for you and me. Oh, and Mara can eat some of it too, of course."

He handed me a soup can that was still warm. I thanked him as I opened the lid and began to suck down the warm liquid. He handed Nina something as well; she took it, but didn't eat it. Eddie began eating a sandwich that he finished in two minutes.

I was still drinking my soup when Eddie aimed his glance at the girl beside me. "Nina, why aren't you eating?"

She shrugged. "I'm just not that hungry."

Eddie growled and stomped over to her, towering above the petite girl. "If you do not eat that, I will personally shove it down your throat and make you eat it myself."

I giggled, though I was still a bit shaken up from the shackle experience before. Nina released the slightest hint of a smile, and I thought I heard a faint laugh coming from her. "Yeah, yeah, commander," she murmured. "I'll eat it. Calm yourself down."

She left the kitchen after that, still holding her food. After she was gone, Eddie turned to me and rolled his eyes. "She's not going to eat it," he deadpanned. "She said she will, but she won't."

I swallowed a gulp of my soup and asked, "Why? If she's hungry, why won't she eat it?"

"Dunno," Eddie shrugged. "I think it's because she's been underfed and abused for three weeks straight. The Man in Red barely feeds her, and when she misbehaves, he doesn't feed her at all. She's not used to that much food, so we kind of overwhelmed her. Hey, are you going to finish that soup?"

I pulled it in closer, protecting it. "No way, Jose," I commanded. "I'm not letting you eat my soup. If I'm letting anyone eat it, it would be Nina, but she wouldn't eat it. Where is she, anyway?"

"Probably sitting alone in the corner, the little loner she is," Eddie smirked."I'll go find her. You just stay here."

And he left.

I took in a deep breath, and found a spot in the kitchen for me to sit down. I took another sip from the soup can, but when I eyed it again, I cringed, and placed it on the floor.

I was wondering how Nina could handle it so well. Granted, she had been here for three whole weeks, but if I was in her position, I would probably be cowered up in the corner, not daring to leave the room. Nina was much more brave than me, so it was no surprise why she had tried to escape.

It's scary, though; the fact that she was abused and underfed, all because of her friends. She was taken so an evil spirit, who was in a human avatar, could come and get us at Anubis House. Nina had endured the abuse, the hunger, the urges, all to protect her friends. Amber was wrong; Nina wasn't selfish in the least.

I had yet to ask about the dreams she gives, so I added that to the endless list of questions. Nina was handling her kidnapping extremely well; better than I could ever handle it. I wondered: did she ever cry at night? Did she ever miss us at Anubis House? Did she miss her real home, in America?

Again, I knew the answers to my questions. _Yes, yes__, no_. . . . no? She didn't miss her home in America?

The first thing that came to mind after my pondering was what to name the Man in Red, now that he wasn't the Man in Red anymore. The Man in Red was when he was in the fireball form; his spirit. He had taken the form of a human, so he needed a name while he was in his human form.

Mark was the first name that came to mind. It sounded like MIR, the abbreviation for the Man in Red; so when he was in his human form, the Man in Red's name was Mark.

I told Nina and Eddie that when they returned. Eddie laughed, and I saw Nina laugh too, even though she tried to hide it. Shadowland was breaking her, but all she needed to return to who she was before was her friends and some light-hearted jokes.

Because, for God's sake, if she really does get abused, she probably takes jokes too seriously, because that's what MIR calls her.

**xXx**

Eddie had explained that right after Patricia and he left the Supermarket, they returned to Anubis House, and Eddie bolted for Shadowland when he heard that I was taken by the Man in Red. He came in around five o'clock, Nina had said, but throughout the rest of the hours, she looked like she was anticipating something bad happening.

And happen it did. I could see through the windows that it was growing dark, but I never thought that Eddie would actually leave. I presumed it was around nine o'clock when he came up to Nina and hugged her again.

I tried not to listen in, but I couldn't help it. I could hear Eddie mutter into her hair, "I'll be back. I promise. Right after I get home from school, I'll be back here and I'll help Mara get back home. I swear."

And Nina, who was obviously crying, mumbled through her tears, "I believe you."

He pulled back and kissed the top of her head. He turned to me, waved, and then left through the front door. Nina was watching through the windows, her eyes bloodshot.

After Eddie had left through the fog, I turned to Nina and asked, "Are you and Eddie dating?"

She looked absolutely disgusting. "Of course not!" she scolded me. "I have no romantic feelings for Eddie whatsoever."

I tilted my head, like a confused dog. "Than why did he just kiss your head just now?"

"We're just really good friends, and . . . well - he knows I can't stand it when he leaves for the night." she admitted, scratching the side of her nose. "Victor would be doing his pin-drop speech right now," she whispered longingly, almost to herself.

She ushered me inside of her room, and when she sat down, I followed her. "So," I began, "If you and Eddie aren't, are you and Fabian still dating?"

She nodded, smiling a little. She had probably thought of him when I mentioned the name. "Yeah," she blushed, "we are."

"Do you miss him a lot?" I asked, scooching over to the corner of the room.

She nodded, her cheeks still pink. "Of course I do. I was going to give him a dream tonight, but you came, so I'll just have to give him one tomorrow. Oh, and don't think that you postponed it or something, because you didn't. After all, I have been here for three weeks."

I mentioned my thoughts and how I was amazed at how she handled this so well; and that was when she started to explain everything. She began her explanation:

"I think you know that it all started on October seventeenth. That's the day I was kidnapped from the side of the street. Well, after I was taken, he threw me into a room - the same room we're in right now. I saw that it was Mr. Winkler - I couldn't believe that he was the one who had taken me. We learned later that it was the Man in Red who had possessed Jason, who ultimately forced him to take me, but that's besides the point - Jason threatened that if I didn't send everyone in Anubis House 'dreams' he would torture you guys and me - but not kill, because he needed everyone at Anubis House. So he gave me the power to send dreams, and left his threat lingering in the air. And that's where we leave off; three weeks later, Jason's dead, and the Man in Red is worse than Jason was."

"Wow," I muttered, after hearing it. "So that's where the dreams come from?"

She nodded, and started to lie down on the floor. It was dirty and full of soot, but she ignored it as she placed her head down. "I'm tired, Mara. We have to get up before five a.m. because if we don't, he'll hit us. Its been a long day, and I'm sure you're tired too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I told her, and I lied down as well, but I didn't try to go to sleep. Nina's quote stayed fresh in my mind: _If we don't get up before five a.m., he'll hit us. _I was too scared to try to go to sleep, in fear that if I didn't wake up before five, I'd get a beating, just like Nina had gotten plenty of times before.

I stayed like that for a while; my head down on the floor, but not moving. I couldn't think of the thought of going to sleep.

I was thinking about it all. First, I had been taken from the side of the road by the Man in Red, taken to Shadowland to find I was chained to the wall, learned that I was the Seeker, eaten a supper with Eddie and Nina, and then watched Eddie leave for Anubis House, which I wouldn't be in anymore.

Amber didn't think I could hear her, but because I was sleeping in Nina's bed for the time being, she muttered under her breath each night, "That's Nina's bed." Amber tried to play it off that she was mad at Nina, but in her heart, she wasn't. Nina was still her best friend, even though Amber tries to deny it.

Now that I knew that Nina wasn't dead, like I thought previously, I was considering moving back into the triple, just so Amber can live with knowing that Nina's bed was empty and ready for her return.

Speaking of sleeping arrangements, I didn't think I'd be able to sleep on the dirty, rusty floor, period. I didn't know how Nina dealt with the disgusting floor, but then again; she had been here for 3 weeks. 21 days. 504 hours. 30,240 minutes. And too many seconds to count. She'd slept on this floor for all of that time.

I still couldn't believe I was talking to her. Just a few hours before, I had believed she was dead. Even though Fabian told me she wasn't dead, I just thought he was off his rocker. I fully believed that on Friday, the twenty-first of October, she had passed away. Now, I was talking to her, the actual person, alive, in the flesh and blood. It was unreal.

I never thought that she could fall asleep that quickly. But she did, because one minute later when I asked, "Are you asleep?" she didn't answer. There was only one question that you couldn't answer "Yes" to honestly, and it was the question I had just asked. I sighed, and moved over to the corner she was in.

But when I moved over to her corner, I saw something I wasn't expecting.

I didn't see it right away, because I wasn't looking for it. But it was right there. Clear as day. No one could mistake it. How _could_ anyone mistake it? They couldn't. Because after all, how could anyone mistake a bright red cut trailing from ones wrist to their elbow? There was no denying it.

Nina had tried to commit suicide.

**xXx**

I had moved back over to my corner after I saw her cut. I was afraid that Nina might wake up, and realize that someone had noticed the vertical cut.

There were so many questions bouncing around in my head. Did Eddie know? Why hadn't she gone through with it; why hadn't it worked? Did she still want to do it again? Why _didn't_ she do it again, if it hadn't worked the first time? And, for God's sake, did Fabian know?

I remembered that I was the Seeker, like the Man in Red had told me all those hours ago when I was chained to the wall of the very room I was in right now. He had told me that I was the Seeker; my power was knowledge. I could know anything I wanted to know. I knew more than anyone else. If I tried hard enough, I could learn.

I thought of the answers to my questions.

_Did Eddie know? _No.

_Why hadn't she gone through with it? _She was stopped.

_Why hadn't it worked? _She was saved before she could go any further.

_Did she still want to do it again_? Yes.

_Why didn't she do it again, if it hadn't worked the first time? _She promised.

_Did Fabian know? _Yes.

_Note to self: slap Fabian the next time you see him._ Fabian had known, since the second of November, that Nina had tried to kill herself. He knew all along. But _how_ did he know? I was going to give him the lecture of a lifetime the next time I saw him.

I couldn't fall asleep after that. With Nina's statement that if we didn't wake up before five, we'd get beaten, and the fact that she had tried to commit suicide still bouncing around in my brain, there was no way I'd slip into unconsciousness.

So instead of sleeping, I stayed up and thought. I thought about what I did wrong. Why was I brought here? Why was _Nina_ brought here? Was it because of our powers? Jerome had told me after Fabian's explanation that he was the Healer; he could heal any injury, scratch, abrasion, or cut. That was his power. Amber's was sight, Patricia's was hearing, and none of the rest knew their powers.

But what did I do? I only had knowledge. If knowledge was my power, if I was the Seeker, if I could know anything I wanted to . . . _the Man in Red had taken me to get answers, and if the rest of the Anubis residents didn't come to Shadowland by the eleventh of November, he would kill me and leave Nina to rot._

If I really was stuck in Shadowland, just like Nina had been for the past three weeks, then I had better learn how to send dreams. I didn't care if Amber classified me as selfish or not, because I knew the real reason why Nina sent the dreams.

And the real reason why she sent them wasn't good.

It wasn't good at all.

**xXx**

**Fabian  
>Monday, November 7th, 2011 10:18 p.m.<strong>

I was saying goodnight to Mick when I had heard a knock on the door. It couldn't have been Eddie - for once, he had come back to Anubis House early - so who could it be?

"I'll get it," I told Mick and Eddie, but I didn't think it made any difference as both of them were already passed out. I made my way to my door and opened it, only to see a bawling Amber in front of me.

"Amber, are you okay?" I asked, ushering her inside. Her eyes were a glowing, vicious red. I only remembered them turning that color two times before: on the second day of Nina's disappearance, when we saw the message on the wall that read _YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER_ and then only three days later, when we received the call that the police had found Nina's body. This time, Amber's breakdown definitely had something to do with her ex-best friend.

She collapsed on my bed, burying her face into my pillow. I tried to intervene, telling her not to get tears on my pillow as that was where I was going to sleep for the night, but her sobs and cries were too loud for her to hear me.

I awkwardly sat down on the bed next to her and rubbed her back in circles. The motion was very uncomfortable, but I don't think Amber really cared at the moment. She must've been crying for a good five minutes when she lifted her head off of my now-tear streaked pillow, showing her viciously-red eyes and mascara running down her cheeks. Amber obviously hadn't bothered to take it off before Victor gave his infamous pin-drop speech.

"What's bothering you, Amber?" was the first question I asked.

Through her sobs, she cried, "I don't want to sleep in my room tonight!"

"Why not?" I inquired, glancing over to the side of the room. I was amazed that Mick and Eddie didn't wake up during Amber's crying session.

"Because!" she yelled. I didn't think she was going to go into more detail, but she continued. "First I'm left alone in my room because Nina stupid went missing, and now Mara's stupid missing too, all because of the stupid stupid _stupid _Man in Red!"

I chuckled softly, knowing this was definitely Amber I was talking to. "And why don't you want to sleep in your room?"

She slammed her head into my pillow again and mumbled something incoherent. I lifted the pillow out from under her head and she mumbled, almost inaudible but still loud enough for me to hear: "Because two of my friends aren't in the room anymore."

I cocked an eyebrow after hearing her statement, knowing that I had heard what I thought I had heard. "Oh? _Two_ of your friends? I thought that Nina wasn't your friend anymore."

Amber groaned after she had caught my gaze. She examined my expression, and rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she murmured.

"I knew she was still your friend," I smiled. Nina was Amber's best friend; she wouldn't just give up on her like that.

Amber wiped her eyes and nose with her sleeve, ignoring my question. "Can I sleep in here for the night? I really, really don't want to sleep in my room tonight."

"No way," I complained. "Go sleep in Alfie's room. He is your boyfriend, after all." She waved my offer aside and sat up, facing me from the opposite side of the bed.

She said, "Do you remember what the Man in Red told us on the phone on Wednesday, October nineteenth?"

"The third day of Nina's disappearance," I whispered, and Amber nodded. "It was the day after I had my first dream. You and I found Nina's locket the previous night, and I didn't know what to do with it, so I stuffed it under my shirt. Patricia noticed the glowing and pointed it out, but you started crying and ran upstairs. Sibuna had a long chat, and after, Patricia suggested that we try to call Nina. We did, but the Man in Red answered instead."

I continued, "At that time, we called him 'The Man'. You and the rest of Sibuna didn't know who it was, but I did. I recognized the voice on the phone, but no one else did. I knew it was Jason Winkler; I knew he was the one who had taken Nina. We found out later that it was the Man in Red who had possessed him, making him do that."

Amber groaned and exclaimed, "Enough of the reminiscence, Fabian. I'm talking about the phone call here."

"Right, right," I apologized. "I remember . . . I think he told us that if he ever saw any of us, he'd kill Nina on sight. What does this have to do with you not wanting to sleep in your room?"

Amber sniffled, her eyes still blood red. She had started to hiccup, and she continued to hiccup every five seconds. "Earlier today, you know how he called us?" I nodded. "He said that if we don't show up in Shadowland by this Friday, he's going to kill both Mara and Nina. Fabian, God, we have to get there. I don't think I could take it if both of my best friend and my old roomie were dead."

"I understand, Amber," I sympathized. I agreed with her; I don't know what I would've done if they were murdered. Sibuna had spent the last three weeks sleeping with insomnia because of the dreams Amber and I were receiving. Mick didn't want a dream at all, Jerome and Alfie were skeptical about them, Patricia tried to deny that she wanted a dream but I knew she wanted one, and Joy and Mara were much too scared towards them to ever want them.

Granted, the only people to get it so far were Amber and me. We were the two people that were closest to Nina, so it makes sense why she would send us the dreams instead of everyone else. Amber hated the experience every time, but only because of the grudge she was holding against Nina.

Me, well . . . I had mixed feelings about them. I loved them because I got to see Nina; through everything, we were still dating, even if we were in separate dimensions. We'd been an ocean away from each other over the summer, so of course we couldn't have a date or anything. In the first two months of the school year, before she went missing, and before the whole "dream" business started, I'd wanted to ask her out on a date, but I could never gain the courage to.

I wasn't sure what she was doing in Shadowland with Mara right now, but I tried to contact her by speaking to her.

_Hey, Nina, you there?_ I asked in my mind, aiming my thoughts into Shadowland.

_Yeah, I'm here,_ she answered almost right after.

A rush of relief spread through me. Ever since November second, when she had attempted to leave this world, I'd been worried sick about her every day. Of course, she'd turned out fine every night when I saw her, but since I wasn't with her in the daytime I was afraid she'd do something to hurt herself.

_I don't know if I'm getting a dream tonight, _I began, _but when I do, would you like to have a date? Like a picnic or something. In Shadowland._

Nina was silent for an amount of time, and I was afraid that she would say no, but she returned with, _Of course. Tomorrow?_

_Tomorrow,_ I confirmed.

Nina didn't speak again. I asked her about the date so I could make her happy; it'd been a while since I'd seen her release a genuine smile. I knew Shadowland must take a lot out of her, but I wanted to see her happy again.

I understood why Amber thought Nina was being selfish, but I also knew there was another reason as to why she was sending us dreams as well. I just wasn't sure what that reason was.

But as we would soon find out, Mara and Alfie would. Mara and Alfie would know the answer to everything.

"I understand," I repeated to Amber. "But there is no way you're sleeping in my room tonight," I smiled. "Go sleep on the floor in the common room or something."

**xXx**

**Mara  
>Shadowland<br>Tuesday, November 8th, 2011  
><strong>

They had four days left. Four days left to show their faces. To risk their lives to save me. Only me. Not Nina; no, she'd be staying in Shadowland, much to the Man in Red's amusement. If the Anubis residents showed their faces in Shadowland, risking their lives so the Man in Red could have his prize, I would be dead.

And so would the rest of them. But again, not Nina; he'd keep her alive, locked forever in Shadowland, with no one to send dreams to. She'd be condemned to loneliness forever. I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to kill herself again after that. I wouldn't blame her.

But I didn't mention that I had seen her cut when we woke up at 4:30 in the morning. I didn't mention it when we had to skip breakfast because the Man in Red was inside from five a.m. to noon. And I still didn't mention it to Eddie when he came back after school.

"You must be tired, Mara," Nina told me at around five p.m. "I know you didn't sleep last night, so why don't you try to take a nap? The Man in Red's not coming back for another twelve hours, so now's the perfect time."

_Shit, does she know that I saw her cut? _My heart started thumping in fear. Did she want to get me alone so she could explain? Would she finally break down? She had to break down at least once for her to even consider trying to . . . well, leave.

"No, I'm not that tired," I answered, which wasn't a complete lie. I had never been that tired, really. I don't think I'd admit it to anyone, but after I saw her cut and I understood every question I had, I kept thinking about the fear I faced when I saw I was chained to the wall.

I had never been so scared. The chains didn't even hurt that much, but they sent the message that I would be chained up like a rabid animal.

Kidnapped. Underfed. Abused. Disrespected. Violated.

That's what I would be. Me, as Mara Jaffray, was not made to be those things. I wouldn't be able to handle them. But Nina would, because she'd been all those things in the past twenty-one days; the last three weeks. After I realized that, I had cried. I hadn't even cried myself to sleep; I had just stayed up and sobbed. I was weak. I had no chance of surviving this, even if the Man in Red decided to keep me alive.

"I don't care that you're not that tired," Nina began. "You're taking a nap. And don't tell me that you'll only go to sleep if I go to sleep because I got enough sleep last night. Your eyes are drooping and you have purple circles under your eyes. I know you're tired, and you know it too."

"No, I'm really not . . ." I yawned, which didn't particularly help my case much. Nina put her hands on her hips and tilted her head.

"Mara, if you go to sleep, we can figure out a way to get you out of here."

"Nina!" I exclaimed, jumping up from my spot on the floor. "Stop saying that! I'm not worth it! I wasn't even that close to you in your first year! Why are you so intent on getting me out of here?"

Nina slumped, like all of the energy inside her had been drained. "I got you into this mess," she admitted. "If I had never come to Anubis House and been so intent on discovering the cup, this never would have happened. I wouldn't have discovered I was the Chosen One, and the Man in Red wouldn't have taken me because he wanted to get to you guys at Anubis House. You'd be fine without knowing me, because you'd have no knowledge that I existed. I wouldn't be giving you dreams, and now you, Mara, wouldn't be locked in Shadowland with me. That's why I have to get you out of here. I don't even know how to get you out of here myself, but we're going to figure out a way. You have any ideas, Eddie?" she turned to him, who was standing beside her.

"Nope," he said, popping the_ p_. "What about you, Mara? Fabian told me that you were the smart one."

"I am the Seeker," I responded, reciting my role. "I can know anything I want to know." I stood up straight and tall. Academics were the only thing I was good at, the only thing I was proud of. _I could know anything_.

"So do you know how to get out of here?"

I closed my eyes, imagining. I searched through archives upon archives of the information of the world, flying and soaring and zipping through words and then-

**_BOOM._**

"Eddie, Nina . . . I know how to get out of here."

**xXx**

After that announcement, Eddie, Nina and I rushed outside. With my help and guidance, they pried the door open and we made it outside, in the chilly November weather, to the portal.

"This is your problem," I told Nina as we neared the fog, which was ultimately the way out of Shadowland. It was the portal. "This is the way out of here. You can't get out of here because you've been cursed; you're the pawn. Just like you said, Shadowland is a prison. You're special, because you're the Chosen One. Shadowland is owned and operated by the Man in Red, who's a spirit that was once good, but turned bad. He controls it. He made it. He cursed you, so you can't leave here, or you'll hurt yourself. Eddie and I can get out here because we weren't cursed. We can come and go as we please. But no normal person can come stumbling through; the Man in Red has to place an enchantment on them so they can get in and out. Eddie has said enchantment; he can come and go as he pleases, for whatever business he has."

As the information sunk in for both of them, Eddie nodded and asked me, "Have you been cursed?"

I shook my head. "No," I answered, "but I understand why. Nina's the ultimate pawn. He's using her to get to us at Anubis. She was taking a long time, so he figured he'd use me instead . . . the innocent girl who knows nothing about Nina or Shadowland."

I continued after I saw Nina staring at the ground, "They're not going to come here again, Nina," I assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm leaving. The Man in Red didn't curse me because he had no use for me and didn't really care if I escaped. I'm leaving, but you're staying."

She nodded, but she didn't say anything after that. I told Eddie to stay behind, and took her around the corner. I had some things to discuss with her. When we were pulled aside, she stared at the ground again.

"Nina, you have to promise me something," I began.

"Promise is a scary word," she muttered, almost to herself. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Well, you have to keep this one," I told her, confidence leaking through my tone. "Look, last night, I saw your cut on your arm."

She looked up from the ground and met my eyes. A look of pure horror and shame was plastered on her face. "You did?"

I nodded, and I saw the tears forming in her eyes. "I understand why you did it, though. I completely understand. Look, you have to promise me that you'll keep sending us at Anubis House dreams. I'm leaving now, only to protect them and you, too. You'll be alone again. But you have to know that Eddie will be coming back. None of the Anubis residents are going anywhere. You have to keep sending us dreams because God damnit, we care about you and we want you back. Damn what Amber is saying about you being selfish. I know why you send us the dreams."

"You know the real reason?" she asked, the look of shame and embarrassment returning. All I did was nod, and she buried her face in her hands. I didn't hear her crying, but when she looked up, her cheeks were drenched.

"It's okay," I assured her. "It's alright. Somehow, the dreams will turn out good and we'll get you back at Anubis House. I promise, Nina. I promise."

To my surprise, Nina walked forward and embraced me in a hug. I didn't know what to do at first; I was never really that close to her. But in the past day, I had grown closer to her than I ever thought I would.

I hugged back.

I didn't know how long we were holding onto each other. It could've been hours, for all I'd known, but it was most likely only a minute or two. I was brought back to reality and taken from my thoughts when someone tapped my shoulder.

I lifted my head up, only to find it was Eddie. He said, "Could I say goodbye to her? I just need a minute."

I nodded, and left them behind, waiting by the fog for Eddie to return and for us to leave. From my spot, I saw Nina, still crying, and Eddie, trying to calm her down. They hugged, but tighter and more meaningful than Nina's and mine was. Eddie kissed the top of her head again, squeezed her hand and told her something that I couldn't hear.

And then he left her alone. Standing on the ground all alone, with no one surrounding her. Tears still stained her cheeks. Just like the last three weeks, she would be alone once again. I wouldn't be here to keep her company all day like I did today. Eddie wouldn't be back for another 24 hours. She'd be alone.

Eddie strolled over to me and said, "You have to close your eyes."

I did the opposite of what he told me as my eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. "What? Why? Why do I have to close my eyes?"

He sighed. "If you know where the entrance to Shadowland is, the Man in Red will know. And if he knows, he'll kill me. I can't let him kill me."

"Why not?" I asked innocently, watching Nina walk inside the house, her hands behind her back.

Eddie said this too, and even though Nina was long gone from earshot, he whispered, "Nina's alone right now. She's locked in here all day with no one to talk to. Nothing to do. Nothing to look forward to. She'd never admit it, but I know she loves it when I visit. Despite the fact that I _have_ to come here, she looks forward to it and I can't let her down. I'm her anchor. I can't let myself die."

"But if we keep this secret, then I can tell the others at Anubis, and then we'll know where Shadowland is! That would be a major achivement in our search and we'd know where she is and-"

"I can't, Mara. I can't. You have to understand that I can't let you see where Shadowland is. It wouldn't help the search. It would sabotage it."

I nodded. I didn't understand him completely, but I understand that I had to at least close my eyes. I shut my eyelids, not daring to open them again. And that was when Eddie led me through the fog.

I had learned a lot of things during my one-night stay in Shadowland. 1) I learned I was the Seeker, and I learned why Nina sent us the dreams. I learned a lot about Nina; that she had tried to kill herself, and that Fabian's love was the only thing keeping her alive. If Fabian didn't care about her as much as he did, Nina would be dead right now. She'd have gone through with the suicide, leaving Fabian heartbroken.

Fabian had never been heartbroken before. Sure, he'd been sad, but his heart had never been shattered into pieces. He wouldn't know how to fix himself after heartbreak.

He sure as hell wouldn't have imagined the heartbreak he'd feel in his next dream.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Remember, you guys said you wanted long chapters. I gave you a long chapter. How you like it now?!  
>Also, Paige, darling, if you're reading this, I have two things to say to you. 1) You predicted wrongly about Alfie ;) and 2) I PROMISE I WILL TRY TO RESPOND QUICKER AND YOUR MESSAGE IS ABOUT TO BE SENT. Just thought you'd be more assured if I said that in chapter 31.<br>Chapter 32 will be up next week! I have a great quote written down that Eddie will say, which I'm sort of...proud of? I just like the quote.  
>And guys, Remember the poll I mentioned in the top of the chapter? It's your decision whether DBA has a sequel or not. So if you want this story to have a sequel, VOTE VOTE VOTE!<br>Review?  
>I do hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!~*<br>~Julianna**


	32. Like an iPhone and its Case

**A/N - Admit it: there's one movie out there that means the world to you. That if it ever came down to it, you wouldn't hesitate to confirm that it was your favorite movie, because it touched you more than any other movie ever did. Titanic is that movie for me; it's my favorite movie, by a mile. It touched me in ways you couldn't imagine, and it continues to be important to me. This weekend, I watched Titanic for the seventh time, and my favorite quote ("But now you know there was a man named Jack Dawson, and that he saved me, in every way a person can be saved. I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now, only in my memory.") still made me bawl. I've loved that movie for a year now, and I'll continue loving it until I'm old. I want it to be the last movie I watch before I die. Titanic means the world to me, and I'm not ashamed to say it.**

**Happy April Fools Day everyone! This chapter doesn't really consist of a joke, but next chapter does . . . next chapter is my late April Fools Day joke, and you guys won't like that one . . . hehe . . .  
>I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I hope you find my favorite quote of Don't Be Afraid that I put in here, and I hope you have a sparkling day!~*<br>~Julianna  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Amber<br>Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 2:00 p.m.**

"Amber?"

I heard my name being called, but I ignored it.

"Hello? Amber?"

_Just ignore them and they will go away._

"Earth to Amber?"

"_What_? What on _Earth_ could you possibly want?" I growled to the person standing beside me. Fabian. As always.

He caught up to me, as he was jogging along behind me. When he reached my side and took in a long breath of air, he spoke. "Just wanted to see you were awake and comprehending me."

I sighed. I knew I had come to Fabian last night for comfort, and not Alfie, who was currently my boyfriend, but I knew Fabian would help me with my situation better than Alfie ever could. I'm not saying Alfie's a bad boyfriend; he's the best a girl could ever have. But Alfie wouldn't understand the pain I was going through.

I was having mixed feelings about Nina. I knew how I felt about Mara: even though we fought over Mick last year, we made up over the summer and became friends again. Nina and I, however, were on rough terms.

I honestly believed that Nina was selfish. I admit that I was overreacting in my Dream Log entry, but I really, honestly thought she was being selfish. Sure, it was heartbreaking that my friend was kidnapped from the side of the road on the way home from school, but sending us dreams? Nina didn't care that we didn't understand the dreams, or that we didn't like nighttime anymore because the dreams were so emotionally draining. All she cared about was getting herself out of Shadowland and back home with us in Anubis House.

But back then, I didn't fully understand the dreams. I didn't know the _real_ reason why she was sending us dreams. I didn't even know that the Man in Red abused her or underfed her. I didn't even know that she had tried to commit suicide until Fabian accidentally spit it out at an upcoming Sibuna meeting.

I groaned, and flipped my blonde hair back behind my shoulder. "Yes. I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

I couldn't tell if Fabian had an objection or not, because right after my statement, I took my phone out of my pocket and began scrolling through my missed calls. I hadn't checked in a while, but I found only that my father had called me yesterday evening.

I smiled. I hadn't talked to Daddy in a while. I held up a finger, signaling to Fabian to be quiet for a moment, and he obeyed. The phone rang for seven long rings, but eventually, he picked up.

"Darling?" he greeted, and I silently squealed.

"Daddy!" I exclaimed, running away from earshot of Fabian. I loved talking to my father, because he was the only one that actually endured my long ramblings about whatever I was passionate about. None of the people in Anubis House did that.

"Pumpkin!" he shot back. "How are you today? I haven't talked to you in ages!"

"I know!" I said. "I'm fine. I just got out of school. How's work?"

"It's fine. The same as normal. Sitting behind a desk all day, typing letters that form into sentences onto the computer. What happened in school today?"

Our conversation continued for a while. In fact, when I checked my phone after I realized it had been a while, I realized we had been on the phone for two and a half hours. "Daddy, I'm sorry. I have to go back to the House. Supper will be ready soon and Trudy's probably wondering where I am."

"That's alright, dumpling. But before you go, how about you come home this weekend? Just a weekend stay. You'll be home by Sunday night. How about it?"

I squealed once again, already loving his offer. "Of course! I'd be delighted to go!"

"Great!" I loved hearing my father's voice, but actually seeing his face was something I couldn't wait to see. "I'll see you this weekend!"

He hung up after that. I smiled as I walked home, back to Anubis House, thinking about my old house; my old bedroom, my old kitchen, my old living room. I'd see Daddy, Mummy, my annoying little pest of a brother Austin; and even my horse, Kiwi. My family had a relatively great amount of money, and I'd wanted a horse since I was little, so my parents bought me one for my fifteenth birthday. I hadn't seen Kiwi since August, so I couldn't wait for the weekend, even if it was three days away.

Sure, I was looking forward to the weekend with my family, but Sibuna had other problems. We had to figure out a plan to get Mara back by Friday, or she and Nina would be dead.

But when I had talked to my father that afternoon, I didn't know that coming home for the weekend would lead to me making up with Nina.

**xXx**

**Mara  
>Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 5:00 p.m.<strong>

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Seeming as we stepped out of the portal five minutes ago, yes."

I opened my eyelids, only to find myself surrounded by trees. Eddie and I were in the forest. The same forest that the Man in Red had dragged me into only one day before.

I hadn't really thought about it before, but I did now. I was taken the same way Nina was. In fact, I was even taken exactly three weeks after she was. I was taken to Shadowland, the same exact place Nina was, but she was trapped in there. She couldn't get out; but I could, and I did. She probably would give anything to get out of there, and I escaped after only one day. If Amber should classify anyone as selfish, it should be me.

I hadn't endured half the pain that Nina was going through. Sure, I was scared when I saw that I was chained to the wall, but Nina had probably been chained to that same wall multiple times. She'd been abused; physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally. She'd been tossed around, hit, called names, and just been out right disrespected as a human being.

I hadn't experienced any of that, and I had considered my time in Shadowland horrible. If you asked Nina, that was probably just another day to her. I would never forget the day I was kidnapped, but Nina had been kidnapped for three weeks; technically three weeks and a day now, but that doesn't matter.

I turned to Eddie, who was walking beside me. He had covered my eyes as he walked outside the portal ("to make sure I didn't peek"), and we had been walking side-by-side since. I asked, "How did you meet Nina?"

He stopped walking, and I when I noticed, I stopped also. He looked me straight in the eye, and a chill went down my spine. Eddie had a lot of power contained in him. "You don't care how I met her. All you care about is getting your information for your little gang so you can solve the mystery of how to get Nina out of Shadowland and back to you guys at Anubis."

I shook my head as we started walking along again. "No!" I protested. "It's not like that at all! Eddie, I was just taken to Shadowland and you and Nina just spent twenty-four hours trying to get me out. You know I'm interested."

We continued walking, but he murmured, almost inaudibly, "I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you will not tell the others."

"Why?" I questioned, staring at the dirt as we walked. "You told me that I couldn't see where the portal led to because if I saw, the Man in Red would find out and he'd kill you. I understand why you can't die; it's for Nina. You don't care about yourself. You care about Nina's well-being and happiness. But why can't you tell everyone? We want Nina back as well. It's not like we'd go behind your back and tell on you like little grade-schoolers."

"I just can't," he muttered, and didn't say anything after that. He crossed his arms, licked his teeth, and sucked in a breath of air. In those three little meaningless movements, I could tell he was hiding something.

I was the Seeker; if I really wanted to know what he was hiding, I could find it out. But I knew that if I knew, I would tell the others. And somehow, the Man in Red would find out, and he'd kill Eddie. Nina wouldn't have a companion anymore. It would be my fault, and when Nina blamed me, she wouldn't be lying.

"I understand," I told him as we rounded the corner for Anubis House. The corner where the Man in Red took me yesterday; probably the same exact spot he had taken Nina. I walked carefully around it, trying to forget the feeling of being drugged and dragged into the trees. I sucked in a breath and trailed behind him.

"I understand," I repeated. "And I think it's kind of touching how much you care about Nina. But it's not like the Man in Red would care if you told me how you met her. It's obvious how much you care about her, and I want to know, now that I met you two and spent a whole day together. Can't you just tell me?"

We were silent. The only sound we heard was the soft patter of our footsteps on the concrete. "I met her on November second. I had just gotten off the plane when I saw my dad, and he knocked me out. I woke up in Shadowland, only to find myself being taken care of by Nina, the horrible nurse." he smiled, as if remembering the event. "We talked, and we clicked. Just like that. We've been best friends since. But I can't tell you more."

I nodded slowly. He had answered my question, but I still didn't get what I wanted. I stopped in my tracks; Eddie sensed my movement, stopping too. "What's wrong?" he questioned, walking closer to me.

"You've told me how you met her," I began, choosing my words carefully. If I said the wrong thing, Eddie might leave and I might never get my answer. "But I don't understand why you're constantly protecting her. I get it; you're friends. You're best friends, even. But I could tell that you would easily sacrifice your life for hers and you've only known her for a measly six days. Why would you do that?"

Eddie lowered his gaze to the floor, and it only confirmed my suspicion more: Eddie was hiding something. I quickly added, "I won't tell anybody," just so Eddie would feel more comfortable telling me the answer.

Without looking up from the grey concrete, he muttered, "I'm her Osirian."

"Osi-what?"

"Osirian," Eddie corrected. "Protector of the Paragon, the Chosen One. I think Fabian's told you that Nina's the Chosen One, correct? The Osirian is the protector of the Chosen One. That's why Nina and I met and why we became such good friends. I literally was born to protect her."

I stood still, letting the information sink in. It was all making sense now; why they had met, why they became friends, and why Eddie was constantly by her side. "You're her protector," I confirmed, and Eddie nodded. "If you're her protector, then why did you let Nina try to commit suicide?"

Eddie winced, like I had just punched him in the chest. I could tell he didn't like talking about the subject. For a while, Eddie didn't say anything. I waited, hands on my hips. It must've been two minutes before I groaned and left the spot I was standing in. Eddie obviously wasn't going to say anything.

I was a few meters away from Anubis House when Eddie called out, "Nina's like an iPhone."

I stopped in my tracks, facing the tall boy again. I stayed silent, waiting for him to talk; and talk he did.

He said, "Nina's like an iPhone. The iPhone is popular; everybody wants one. But if you drop the iPhone, it breaks. Shatters on impact. You have to be careful with an iPhone, because it's fragile. Now, the iPhone wouldn't break so easily if it had a case, right? I'm the case. I'm not an Otter Box, which protects both sides, but I'm that case that only covers the back. When you get the iPhone, it doesn't have a case, but you acquire one in time. And it's the one I mentioned, the one that only covers the back. If you drop the iPhone on the side with the case, it's protected, but if you drop it face first, it will still crack. Nina's the iPhone. I am the case. Nina's the Chosen One and I am her Osirian. I can only protect her from one angle. I can fight off any outward monsters, like the Man in Red, but I can't fight off the monsters that are inside her head."

**xXx**

We took the steps to Anubis House one at a time.

"You open it," Eddie commanded.

I reluctantly moved my hand towards the door handle. Carefully placing my hand around the cold bronze, I pulled it toward me, showing the hallway I knew all too well.

Eddie and I walked in together, side-by-side, just like when we were walking together outside. He carefully placed his hand on my back, pushing me inside a little farther. He surprised me with his gesture; I didn't make it all that clear that I didn't really want to come back. I wasn't sure what the others would think.

I certainly wasn't expecting Jerome to tackle me in a hug as soon as I stepped into the common room.

"Oh, Mara, I'm so glad you're okay," he was muttering into my shoulder. "I was so worried that the Man in Red had hurt you or killed you or violated you and oh, God, I have never been happier to see you."

Jerome and I had only been a couple for eight days, since Halloween night when Fabian chose us in complete darkness to go in the closet. We had kissed, and the next day, he asked me on a date in town. I agreed, and that night, he asked me to be his girlfriend.

We'd been dating since. Sneaking glances in class, holding hands in the hallway, talking on the phone in the middle of the night, just like every other couple in the world. I was happy around him; happier than I had ever been around Mick. We had only been a couple for eight days; I certainly wasn't expecting him to act like this.

I hugged back. I had missed his scent while I was locked in Shadowland; I missed his tousled sandy-blonde hair, his ice-cold blue eyes, and his smirk that never left his face. He was much taller than me, so he had to lean down to hug me, but I didn't care. Because as soon as he pulled away, I made the move.

I kissed him. Full on the lips. In front of everyone in Anubis House. The first time I had kissed him since Halloween. It wasn't anything inappropriate; we didn't go any farther than kissing. Our lips were inseparable at first, at least until Alfie screamed, "GET A ROOM!"

I pulled back, giggling. I looked up at Jerome again, as he much taller than me, and he whispered, "I'm just glad you're okay."

I smiled, and turned to face everyone in Anubis House. They were all in the common room; Fabian, Patricia, Amber, Mick, Alfie, and Joy. Eddie had walked in with me, so now everyone was here except Nina; she was still in Shadowland.

I saw Fabian get up and place a hand on my shoulder. "Mara, are you okay?" he asked me.

I nodded, trying to hide the bruises on my wrists where the shackles were. Ever since I found out that Nina had tried to kill herself, I felt the need to talk to Fabian about it; but I knew that right now, in front of everyone in the House, wasn't a good spot to talk about it. "Yes," I answered, grabbing Jerome's hand and squeezing it. "I'm fine. A little shaken up, but fine."

"We're just glad you're okay," Alfie called from the other side of the room. He and Amber were sitting next to each other, and Alfie's arm was slung across her shoulders. "We were really worried about you. The Man in Red had called and told us that if we didn't come and get you by -"

"I know, I know," I interrupted. "I couldn't let you come and get me. That's why I escaped."

"How did you get out of Shadowland?" Fabian questioned. "Nina said she was trapped there. How on Earth did you get out?"

"Long story short, I wasn't cursed. I'm back now and Nina's still in Shadowland." I wasn't sure if Eddie wanted me to tell the others about him being involved with Shadowland and Nina; if I did, he might be dead the next day. "And, um . . . I just ran into Eddie on the walk back. I wasn't sure how to get here, so he led me back. Thanks, Eddie," I stated, aiming my glance at him. He seemed to get the message that I wanted him to leave, so he walked back into his room.

With Patricia sending one of her famous glares at Eddie as he walked back, I told the whole group, "We need to practice our gifts. Right now. We all need to come."

I didn't even give them time to protest because I grabbed them all and shoved them outside, into the chilly November air.

**xXx**

"What do you mean, Mara?" Fabian questioned when we reached the garden. "Practice out gifts? What gifts?"

"Our powers, obviously," I deadpanned, facing the group who was trailing behind me. "You know; Amber's the One Who Can See and Patricia's the One Who Can Hear, and Jerome's the Healer. That's their powers."

"But the rest of us don't know our powers!" Alfie complained, from where he was standing beside Amber. She was holding his hand, and I could tell that Alfie was enjoying the experience.

"Well, we'll have to figure them out," I ordered, standing in front of them. I knew I wasn't the leader; Fabian was. But Fabian wasn't the one that was taken from the side of the road and thrown into Shadowland, only to find out he was the Seeker; I was.

"You all should know that I _was_ kidnapped. I know I didn't give you time to question what happened to me, so I'm going to give you the short version: I was walking home from school when I was taken by the Man in Red; the same exact way Nina was taken. I was thrown into Shadowland, where Nina and I met. I learned that I was the Seeker; knowledge is my power. Nina helped me escape from Shadowland, but that's besides the point.

"You know how the Man in Red wants us and not Nina? He wants us because of our powers. Amber has sight, Patricia has hearing, Jerome has healing, and I have knowledge. We all need to find our powers and use them, so we can fight MIR and get this whole thing over with. I hope that you all have the gifts that you found on your grave Halloween night?"

Amber claimed that she was wearing her ring, and Patricia was wearing her earrings; Fabian was wearing his bracelet on his wrist, but none of the others had their gifts. Alfie volunteered to go and fetch them; he came back five minutes later with mine and Alfie's sunglasses, Jerome's necklace, and Mick's hat. Joy didn't have anything.

"Okay," Patricia began, her sarcasm already dripping, "How are we supposed to practice our powers? Amber and I can't practice because our sight and hearing aren't advanced until Nina's presence is around, and she's still in Shadowland; you said you left her there. Jerome can't practice unless someone's hurt, and everyone's fine. Everyone else has no idea what their powers are."

"Okay," I groaned. My plan wasn't going exactly as I planned. The Anubis residents were being oddly stubborn. "Let's start with Jerome."

He walked over and grabbed my hand. I smiled to myself, but it quickly faded when I asked him, "Who have you healed, when, and how?"

He closed his eyes for moment; obviously trying to remember. "I healed Nina and Mick, but that's it. I healed Mick first; he tripped on the way home from school, on October 25th, and his leg was bleeding badly. I healed his cut. Next, I healed Nina on Halloween night. The Man in Red had stabbed her or some shit, and she was just casually lying on the side of the road. I healed her. . . . but God, did that take a lot out of me. I probably slept for, like, hours. I was so tired."

"So healing people takes a lot of energy out of you," Joy suggested. She was standing next to Patricia, who was standing next to Amber.

I nodded, turning my attention to everyone in our little circle. "Does anyone have a piece of paper, or a sharp object?" I had an idea, and I wanted to play it out before I forgot about it. Everyone checked their pockets for a piece of paper, but it was Mick who handed me a spare piece of ripped paper.

I rolled my eyes to myself. How was I going to give myself a paper cut with the thin piece of ripped paper Mick had given me? With everyone in Anubis House, excluding Eddie, staring at me, I sucked in a deep breath of air and slid the edge of the paper across my finger.

Immediately, a stinging sensation overtook me. The thin cut on my index finger began to bleed, but the sting hurt more than the pain. I shoved the finger in Jerome's face, and he flinched. "Okay, Jerome. Heal this."

**xXx**

**Third Person POV**

Jerome cringed when he saw his girlfriend's paper cut shoved in front of his face. Sure, he was the Healer; he could heal any cut, scrape, abrasion, or bruise; but he didn't like his gift. Not one bit.

"Come on, Jerome," Mick called out. "You're not a coward, are you?"

"Of course not," he snapped. Mick was crossing his arms, a smirk plastered across his face. Jerome couldn't let Mick win - not this time.

After all, Jerome had healed much worse than a paper cut. He'd healed a _stab wound_, for God's sake. He gently wrapped his hand around Mara's finger, and closed his eyes. He thought about a clean finger, one with no cuts, no blood. When Jerome opened his eyes and removed his grasp on Mara's finger, the paper cut was gone.

"Whoa, mate," Alfie exclaimed in awe. "How did you do that?"

Jerome shrugged, facing his best friend. "Dunno," he explained. "I don't know what I do. I think of a clean finger, or whatever body part I'm healing, and then . . . I heal it."

"Okay, we know how you heal things, then," Patricia called, obviously annoyed. She rolled her eyes as she continued, "Me and Amber can't practice ours, because our powers don't come into play until Nina's near. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to the House -"

"Not so fast, Patricia," Fabian smiled as Patricia was walking away. "You know very well that you can use your powers. Your earrings will help you, as Amber's ring will help _her_. You have to stay."

Patricia groaned and muttered something inaudibly as she trudged back to the group in the garden. "I don't know what you mean," the group could hear as she approached them. "I've worn these earrings every day since Halloween, and nothing's happened."

"Same with me," Amber piped. "It's just a ring. Maybe the Man in Red just wanted us to look classy as he killed us." Alfie chuckled at her joke, but no one else laughed.

Fabian began his explanation. "We obviously found the earrings and ring at the graves for a reason. They're not just decoration. If Patricia's power is hearing, it makes sense why she received earrings; they both have something to do with the ear. But what I don't understand is why Amber got a ring; how does it help her sight?"

Amber, still standing next to Alfie, removed her hand from his grasp to rub the pink jewel inside the ring. The Anubis residents were sure that Amber was going to speak her mind, but she stayed silent.

"Amber?" Fabian called. The blonde didn't show any sign of comprehension. "Amber, do you understand me?" Alfie was next to speak up. Amber continued to rub the jewel, but the one person to break her from her trance was Patricia. Her new partner.

"What are you doing?" mumbled Amber, when Patricia suddenly grabbed the blonde's hand. "Trying something," Patricia returned in a whisper. Suddenly, both girls remembered the chant they recited the first time they went blind and deaf - it was the chant that brought their senses back to them. It was useless as of then, obviously, seeming as their senses were not enhanced, nor diminished. But the redhead had another idea.

After Patricia noticed that Amer was staring off into the distance, she shook her shoulders and told her, "Look into the ring again." Amber did as she was told. The blonde could see Patricia also staring into the jewel from the corner of her eye, and Amber wondered what the reason for this was.

While the others in Anubis House remained quiet, the jewel stayed the constant shade of pink. It reflected the sun's glares, making it look even prettier than it was before. "I'm staring into the ring, Patricia," Amber complained after one minute of seeing nothing. "Nothing's happening."

"That's because you're not thinking of a specific thing," Patricia explained, as if she had known the answer her whole life. "Think of something you know well."

Licking her teeth, Amber closed her eyes and imagined the stables in her house. During the summer, Amber spent almost all day at the stables with her horse, Kiwi. No one in Anubis House knew that Amber adored horseback riding, but being with Kiwi on a blazing hot summer day with the prettiest horse in the world was what Amber loved most.

She imagined the stables; Kiwi's dark-brown fur and gray mane, the stray bails of hay lying around, and the horrid smell of horse dung. Amber wasn't closing her eyes; she was staring into the ring as she imagined the stables. After seconds of imagining, the stables suddenly appeared in the ring's jewel.

Amber was too shocked to speak. Inside the ring, Amber could see the stables, but there was only one problem: she couldn't hear the horses or any sounds from the room she was staring at. Amber knew she wasn't going deaf; she could hear the Anubis resident's voices from beside her clear as day.

"Do you see this too, Patricia?" Amber asked her partner, and Patricia nodded and added, "Yeah, but it's a little blurry."

The blonde asked another question. "Can you hear it?"

This time, Patricia nodded with a burst of confidence. "I can hear it clear as day. Probably better than anything else around here. The horses neighing, the sound of hooves pounding against the wood and the sound of fur being brushed. I can hear everything, even though I can't see it all that clearly."

The two girls told the others what they had saw, since none of them, other than Patricia and Amber, had seen the stables in Amber's ring. "Try to see Shadowland," Fabian suggested.

With annoyance, Patricia gripped Amber's hand again while Amber tried to imagine Shadowland, from what she remembered of it. A house to the north, a forest to the east, a staircase to the south, and a lake to the west. Leaves covered the cement floor, as it was the middle of Autumn. Amber couldn't feel the wind, but she was sure it was chilly and rigid.

"We see it!" Patricia announced, a grin spreading across her face. "This is the first time I'm seeing Shadowland, seeming as Nina failed to give me a dream."

"Can it, Patricia," Mick piped. He was extremely confused about how everyone was acting; why did they suddenly have powers? And if they all had powers, what was his own? He wasn't sure that a sports cap could do any better than glasses could for Mara and Alfie.

"Excuse you, Mick," Patricia retorted, still caught up in her conversation with Fabian. He announced, "Come on, let's all try our powers simultaneously. I know a lot of us don't know what our powers are, including myself, so that way maybe we'll figure them out quicker."

Mick didn't know how that would help, but seeming as Fabian had no other ideas, Mick slid the cap onto his head and waited. He must have waited for a good two minutes, watching everyone else practice, when the cap did nothing. Mick stood still, waiting for something to happen, but while everyone else was having fun, using their powers to their advantage, Mick didn't do anything.

But then something did happen. As Mick still had the cap slipped onto his head, he thought of Shadowland. He still remembered what it looked like from Amber's drawing yesterday; and it was the only place he could think of at the moment. Everyone else was practicing their powers in order to find Nina, and since Nina was trapped in Shadowland, it was the only logical place to think of.

Mick never thought he'd actually land in Shadowland, all because of his cap.

**xXx**

No one noticed Mick was gone. There were two pairs: Amber and Patricia, and Mara and Alfie. The rest worked by themselves: Fabian, Jerome, and Joy. Mara and Alfie both had glasses as their item; they were working together to see why they had the same thing.

"They're on, Mara," complained Alfie once again, from where he was standing right next to the straight-A student. "Now what?"

"Well, I'm the Seeker," explained Mara, "as I learned from my experience in Shadowland yesterday. My power is knowledge, and I'm guessing that's yours too, seeming as you have the same item as me."

Fabian, still fiddling with his bracelet, announced, "Alfie always seems to know what someone is thinking. Could he possibly be able to read minds?"

Immediately, Alfie shook his head. "No way, mate," he said, a look of disappointment crossing his face. "If I could read minds, I would know. I would totally be using that to my advantage. But I can't read minds. I guess I just can tell what someone's thinking based on their expression, or something. But I can't read minds."

"Then how did you know exactly what I was thinking the other day? I didn't say it out loud, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure that I didn't mutter." Fabian questioned. Alfie shrugged, but Fabian continued, "Try to read my mind."

Alfie shrugged once again, closed his eyes, and tried to focus his thoughts on this inside of Fabian's head. He assumed the geek was thinking of something either science-related or Shadowland-related, but Alfie couldn't hear what he was thinking. He couldn't hear anything except for Amber and Patricia's continual arguments over who was more important between the two.

After a minute of failing to hear Fabian's thoughts, he opened his eyes and Alfie saw that Mara and Fabian were staring at him. They both asked him if he had read Fabian's mind, but Alfie shook his head in disappointment. Both of the teenagers groaned, dropping their arms to their sides.

"Well," Alfie began, playing with his fingers; a habit he inherited from Amber. "If I'm not a mind-reader, what am I?"

"I think you're a Seeker," Mara exclaimed immediately, obviously happy from the new discovery.

"Does that mean my power is knowledge?" Alfie inquired, and Mara nodded feverishly, like she was ecstatic to have a partner. Alfie groaned inwardly, for he never wanted a power; even though Fabian thought he could read minds, he thought he was normal and didn't have a special power. He'd rather it that way. Now that he knew his power was knowledge, he wasn't all that happy. Alfie wasn't as smart as Mara or Fabian.

"Maybe Fabian's a Seeker!" he announced desperately. After all, Fabian was much smarter than Alfie could ever be.

Fabian shook his head sadly. "As much as I'd enjoy being a Seeker, I have a bracelet. I'm not sure what the bracelet means, but since you and Mara have the same item, it makes sense. Alfie, you're a Seeker."

He murmured, "I don't particularly want to be a Seeker." But Fabian and Mara were pestering him about trying to find out the answer to a question, since a Seeker knows the answer to any problem they face.

Much to Alfie's dismay, it was no longer "Jerome and Alfie". No, now it was "Mara and Alfie".

**xXx**

Joy strolled over to Fabian, who was fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist. Patricia was too busy with Amber, and everyone else was too busy, so she figured Fabian was the next best person.

"Hey, Fabes," Joy greeted. Fabian looked up from his wrist and smiled at her, but then went back to inspecting the item. Fabian remained silent, but Joy was desperate for conversation. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Fabian answered, and didn't go into more detail. He didn't explain why he had a bracelet, or who he was, like Amber was the One Who Can See or that Jerome was the Healer.

"Do you know what you are?" Joy voiced her thoughts. Without explaining, Fabian knew what she was talking about.

"I honestly have no idea," he admitted. He shrugged, turning back to his bracelet. "I don't even know what this does. Patricia and Amber's items make sense; it helps their powers. I don't even know what my power is, so I don't know how the bracelet helps."

Joy released a weak laugh, and moved closer to Fabian's side. "I'm guessing your girlfriend's annoying you?" she asked in a playful voice. Joy wasn't trying to make a move on Fabian; he was her friend. If he loved another girl, Joy would leave the happy couple to their business.

"Sort of," Fabian replied, smiling a bit. "All I want is to get her out of there, and if this is the way to do it, well, that's what we're going to do."

Joy wanted to ask him how they met, and how they became friends, that kind of thing, but Mara came over from her spot with Alfie before Joy could ask.

"Sorry, Joy," Mara interrupted. "Could you leave Fabian and I alone for a minute? I need to ask him something," the look in Mara's eyes was ominous. As Joy walked away, Fabian could see Mara's eyes narrow into slits and an angry expression cross her face.

"What's up?" Fabian asked, as Mara pushed him out of earshot of the others. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's very wrong," Mara began. "Fabian, you know when I was taken by the Man in Red into Shadowland?"

Fabian nodded, not knowing where this was going.

"I was only there for one night, but I saw something . . . Fabian, I saw Nina's cut. I know she tried to kill herself. And I know that _you_ know that too."

Fabian sighed, and placed his head in his hands. "You do?" he spoke miserably though his hands. Mara nodded, but she doubted Fabian could see it.

"Yeah," she admitted, rather guiltily. "How come you never told any of us?"

"Because I was sure Nina didn't want anyone other than me knowing," he muttered, almost inaudibly. Instead of sympathizing, Mara smacked Fabian's arm.

"Ow!" he complained. "God, can everyone stop hitting me?"

"No!" Mara exclaimed, the angry expression crossing her face again. "You knew that Nina attempted suicide, and you never told any of us! How did you know? Did she tell you?"

Reluctantly, Fabian picked his head out of under his hands. A very sad and guilty look was plastered on his face. He told her, "Because I was there when she did it."

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><p><strong>AN:DID YOU FIND THE QUOTE? I'll give you a hint: It's relatively early in the chapter. ;)  
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**Guys . . . we're seven reviews away from 200. SEVEN. C'mon, my loyal readers, we can reach 200 by the end of this chapter. WE CAN DO THIS!  
>~Julianna<br>**


	33. Two Broken Hearts

**A/N -...I know I missed a week. And I know it's a Friday and I'm supposed to update Lost & Found, but I couldn't help myself...the Finale. The finale. THE FREAKING FINALE. I had to say goodbye to my favorite show again, and, well...let's just say that I wasn't a happy camper. And the annoucement that TeenNick is playing season 2 - I don't know whether to feel happy or sad. I haven't seen season 2 in over a year, but at the same time I don't want to see it, because it sucked. I hated season 2 at first - of course, now I'm learning to appreciate it a bit more, but I still don't really like thinking about it...Meh.  
><strong>

**This chapter. Chapter 33 has, like, no specific point or mood. It's all over the place. Two flashbacks, a breakup, a dream, a Sibuna Meeting...there's no real focus. I guess if you're over 6,000 words you get a bit cocky and go over the top? This chapter has a total of 7,330 words.**

**Guise. Vote on the poll. Srsly. It's your choice whether you want this story to have a sequel or not - and don't think that if you want the story to stand alone, it's going to make me upset. I couldn't care less; I'm having trouble deciding, so I left the choice up to my loyal readers WHO DON'T PROVE TO BE VERY LOYAL. Vote on that fucking poll already. (; **

**I consider this chapter a bit sad, because, well...I just...read on. Then you'll see why it's sad. I broke my poor Fabian's heart. :(**

**I hope you enjoy this late/early chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!~*  
>~Julianna (I put my name here for a reason, people. Feel free to call me Julianna. That IS my name.)<strong>

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><p><em>"I don't want it to be over, but we need a break before you break my heart."<em>

_~Big Time Rush_

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><p><strong>Summer of 2011 - flashback<br>**

Nina's eyes bulged when she picked up the check. "Oh, my Lord."

Fabian chuckled, gently grabbing the check from her hands. He placed it back in the small case, and closed it, ignoring Nina's muttering to herself. He handed the case back to the waiter and said "Thank you" and couldn't help smiling when he saw Nina's jaw hitting the floor, speechless. "Let me guess. You're wondering how I paid for that?"

She didn't say anything, only nodded her head, her jaw still open. Fabian laughed again and grabbed Nina's hand from across the table. "Well, I told my folks you were coming and they were absolutely thrilled to hear that I had an actual girlfriend. They said they'd send us to a really fancy restaurant and I told them not to, but they persisted. Hey, what did I have to lose?"

Nina closed her mouth and raised her eyebrows at her boyfriend. "Are you sure? Because I don't want to know if I just made you pay for a check that's probably worth more than a couch."

Fabian smiled and shook his head. "Nah, Love. It's all on my parents. You can thank them when we get there."

"Yeah, I will . . ." Nina muttered, almost to herself. But when Fabian's words sank in, her eyes grew to the size of tennis balls and shook her head frantically. "Wait! No, no, no! What do you mean, 'when we get there'? Are we meeting them? Please tell me we're not meeting them."

Fabian pushed himself off of the chair he was sitting in and walked over to Nina, offering her a hand to help her up. "Yeah, we're going there right now. Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, there kind of is. I'm not ready to meet them, Fabian. We've only been dating for two months. You haven't even met my Gran yet." Nina pulled her coat over he shirt and zippered it up, despite the hot August weather. She slipped her hand into Fabian's as they left the café, but continued her argument. "I mean, I know it sounds cliché, but what if they don't like me? What if they don't like me because I'm American? What if they wanted you to have a perfect British girlfriend and have perfect purebred British kids and not half-American, half-British? American people are very stereotyped, you know, being obese and lazy and crap, so what if they think I'm like those people and they offer me snacks and food and drinks all day because they think I have a food addiction?"

"You lost at me half-American," Fabian chuckled. "Don't worry, Nina. I've told them about you and even shown them pictures. I'm pretty sure they don't care if you come from a different continent. I'm not going to force you if you really don't want to, though you should've seen their faces this morning. My mum woke me up at three a.m. to tell me to get ready. 'Your girlfriend's coming today!' I had to tell her you weren't coming for another ten hours." He laughed.

"Well, if you're sure . . ." she murmured, a small smile creeping up on her face. "I'll only meet them if you want me to."

"Of course I do!" he promised, squeezing her hand a bit tighter. "I wish I could meet your parents too, but...well..." he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and Nina laughed softly.

"I wish I could meet them, too," she admitted, and the subject was dropped. After a few seconds of silence, she started to continue the conversation. "How are we getting to your house?"

"Probably in a taxi," he ventured, a hint of confusion lurking in his voice. "I'm not one hundred percent sure. They never specified, because my mum was freaking out all day. She gave me some extra money, so I'm presuming we're taking a taxi to my house."

Nina nodded in understanding. Holding hands, the new couple walked out of the café and onto the side of the street. Fabian waved down a taxi, told the driver his address, gave him the fee, and they set off for his house.

"Are you absolutely sure it's okay?" Nina asked, for the millionth time.

Fabian tilted his head, staring at his girlfriend. "No," he began, "it's not okay. That's why I asked you to come three thousand miles away from your home to spend a week with me, right? Nina, of course it's okay. You're just meeting my parents. It's not like we're getting married or anything like that."

They laughed, Fabian's chuckle stronger than Nina's. Even though Fabian confirmed that he wanted her to come, there was still a lingering suspicion in the air. As she picked with her nails, she said, "I know, but I-"

"Nina, shut up," Fabian smiled, moving closer to Nina in the backseat of the taxi. "We're going to be there soon, so shut up. How about we talk about your family for a little while, hm? How's your grandmother?"

Their conversation continued for a few more minutes, until the movement stopped and the taxi driver announced, "We're here."

Fabian opened the car door and held a hand for Nina to hold on to while she stepped out. She took it gratefully, and as the taxi pulled out of the driveway, grabbed a hold of his hand and followed him up the brick pavement.

Much sooner than later, the olive green door appeared in front of both of them. Nina fought down a horrible feeling in her chest, and shared a long look with her boyfriend beside her. Fabian nodded, then placed the key in the lock and turned it sideways. The door clicked open, revealing the familiar smell of treats and candles.

"I have to warn you about something," he whispered, the door barely open. "My mum's sort of a freak, so she'll probably invade you and ask you questions you never thought you'd be asked, like when your brother's birthday is or how the milkshakes are in a certain restaurant."

Nina hadn't even met the woman, but she was sure she'd like her. By Fabian's description, she seemed sweet and kind, the sort of person she'd normally befriend. When Fabian asked her if she was ready, she nodded, the first time in a few hours saying the word honestly.

He pushed the door open wider, and the faint smell of treats and candles turned into the smell of biscuits and cherry trees. The vague sound of someone talking came from the room beside them, but it turned out to be the television talking. By the looks of it, no one seemed to be home.

"Mum?" Fabian called down the hall, and a plump, freckly woman came running into the foyer to meet them.

"Fabian!" his mother exclaimed, enveloping her son in what would only be classified as an "Amber-Hug". With him in her arms, she swayed him back and forth, muttering something under her breath about how he should never be out of the house for that long. And then that's when she noticed Nina.

Fabian's mother's shining blue eyes met Nina's green ones, and she released her grip on her son and rushed over to face Nina. "Ah, so you're the girl that Fabian won't shut up again?"

"Mum, we've only been here for two minutes and you're already embarrassing me," Fabian grumbled, moving over to his girlfriend's side.

She waved his statement away as if she hadn't heard it, and examined Nina's features. "Yes...just like he described. So, you're his girlfriend, then? Ha, I thought the poor boy would never get a girlfriend..."

"Mum!" Fabian exclaimed, his face turning as red as a tomato.

Despite Fabian's protests, his mother continued. "Sixteen years that boy's been alive, and he hasn't got so much as a friend of the opposite sex. Then I send him to that boarding school and he apparently makes two friends, but it's not like he talked much about them. And then you come around!" she laughed, holding Nina by the shoulders. "My god, you're pretty. Fabian, you've got a pretty girlfriend."

"Just ignore her," Fabian whispered in her ear, making Nina smile a little. "I told you she was crazy."

"Spreading rumors about me, eh, Fabian?" his mother chuckled, turning her gaze away from the couple and into the other hallway. "ARTHER!" she called, and Nina assumed that that was Fabian's father's name. For a quick second, his mum turned around and told Nina, "By the way, dear, you can call me Molly."

A small, petite figure with brown hair came bounding into the room. "Fabian, who's this?" the little girl asked the bigger boy, pointing to Nina. Before he could answer, however, Fabian's father walked into the room.

"Hey, son," he greeted, hugging Fabian as well. The Rutters, it seemed, were big huggers. After Fabian confirmed to his father and little sister that Nina was indeed his girlfriend, his parents invited Nina for dinner, even though she was staying at a little motel around the corner.

The five people sat around the dining table and had a long, cheery, interesting conversation. Nina told her boyfriend's family about life in America and how she adjusted to England, and they shared funny stories about how cute Fabian looked in the bathtub when he was two or when his little sister, Chloe, beat up him even when she was four years younger than him.

When nine o'clock rolled around, Nina announced that she had to go. She hugged Fabian's parents again and Chloe sobbed, asking her not to go. Fabian ripped his little sister off of Nina's thigh and followed her onto the porch.

"Well," she breathed, tightening her coat around her body, even though it was the middle of August. "That was a lot of laughing."

He cocked an eyebrow, slipping his hand into hers. "I warned you," he said playfully. "You should have declined my offer."

"Yeah, I should've," she giggling, turning to face Fabian's gorgeous blue eyes. The two never left each other's gazes for a second.

Looking back on it, Nina was surprised. She couldn't believe it herself, because Fabian was normally so shy and reserved, always too scared to make the first move. But Fabian surprised her this time - the first time, it was Nina who kissed him.

This time, it was the opposite.

* * *

><p><em>"We can't live this scene forever. Right now, you and me are better off apart."<em>**  
><strong>

_~Big Time Rush_

* * *

><p><strong>Nina<br>Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 7:00 PM**

Nothing.

That was a good word to describe the day: Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Unlike what he had promised, Eddie hadn't returned the following night after we spent a day trying to free Mara. The Man in Red hadn't even had the decency to show his face. I'd been alone all day.

And what made it worse was that when I was asleep, the Man in Red had locked the door. I promptly spent over nine hours locked in a room with nothing more than an old, broken chair.

The hours seemed to pass by, though, because soon enough, I heard the front door of Shadowland being opened, and I knew that the Man in Red had made his return. I was holding onto a thin strip of hope that it might be Eddie, but both of my predictions proved horribly wrong as none other than Victor Rodenmaar stepped into the room.

Quickly, I scrambled up out of my spot on the floor, and stood face to face with my former house-caretaker. He placed his arms on either side of my head and spat, "How on _Earth_ are you alive, girl?"

I didn't answer, as I was too shocked to process what was going on. Mara had told me earlier this morning that it had been twenty-two days since October 17th; twenty-two days since I was taken from the side of the road. Three weeks and a day. And in all those hours, all those minutes and seconds, Victor had never once taken a step inside of Shadowland.

"_Answer me_!" he hissed, but unlike the Man in Red, he didn't hit me. He stayed very still, his piercing eyes staring at my face. My whole body was shaking like a leaf, and I couldn't make eye contact with him. I mumbled something incoherent, and Victor boomed, "_What was that_?"

"I don't know," I answered, only a tone louder. It was evident he heard me this time, because he removed his arms from either side of my head and turned away. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he turned his attention back to me. "Jason Winkler died on Halloween," he began, his voice soft but raising as he continued his speech. "It has only been eight days since he died. You should be dead too, you stupid girl!"

"Why do you care if I'm dead or not?" I rushed the words out of my mouth, sliding down the wall into a ball on the floor. "It's not like you can do anything with me."

For a short second, he said nothing. It was all too strange, seeing Victor again for the first time in twenty-two days. I hadn't heard his annoying voice booming throughout the hallways of Anubis House as he gave his "Pin-Drop speech. I hadn't seen him in that dull brown trench coat or overheard him stroking his stuffed bird. It was weird to see him in Shadowland, but at the same time, it was comforting. It was almost like a part of Anubis House was with me again.

Victor was silent for an amount of time, but just as I thought he wouldn't say anything else, he muttered, "Yes, you're right, little girl...I can't do anything about you...but I know someone who can. Come on in!" he spoke, to someone outside the door.

Much to my annoyance, the Man in Red walked in. It was utterly tired of seeing his face every single day. The only people I ever saw were him and Eddie. I wanted a more diverse cast of people to come, but Victor wasn't particularly high on my list.

"Yes, hello, girl," the Man in Red sneered, in his new human avatar. I rolled my eyes when I heard his voice, folding my hands on top of my lap. I didn't even bother standing up for this meeting. Victor and the Man in Red, who Mara had nicknamed as Mark, had a long conversation. I wasn't listening to most of it, but as I played with the strap of my dress, I caught the word "Mara".

"How could you let her escape?" Victor growled, as my attention turned from my clothing to their conversation. The fire in Victor's eyes was growing every second, and I was surprised he didn't burst into flames.

The Man in Red held up his hands in surrender. "Don't blame me, blame the children," he deadpanned, pointing to me, on the floor, and outside the door. "They helped the insufferable girl out of Shadowland, even though I threatened to kill her. Then again, I also threatened to kill this girl over here..." he drifted his voice towards me.

"You're not going to kill me," I murmured, almost to myself. "You've threatened to, like, a billion times, and you've never done it. I don't know why you keep threatening it. If you're trying to scare me, it's not working." I released a small laugh, but as quickly as it came, it diminished. I was trying my hardest to come off as brave, but inside, I was screaming. You'd be, too, if you were kidnapped from the side of the road and forced to send your friends dreams.

MIR released a low, soft growl, just like the dog he was. "You know that if I wanted to, I could very well kill you with the flick of my hand," he sneered. "You're right, though, you stupid girl - I won't kill you tonight, but you know very well that I _can_. You better watch your mouth, though, because any night now might be your last. Hmm...I can just kill your pretty little boyfriend. That way, I won't have to kill you. You'll kill yourself."

After I heard that statement, I started shaking. I wasn't sure if it was from fear, anger, or love, but as I shakily pushed myself off of the floor, I could be compared with a leaf in a hurricane. I felt a few tears slide down my face, and I knew this time that the shaking was from fear.

The Man in Red wasn't kidding when he threatened to kill him. He would do anything humanly possible to torture me. He knew that Fabian was one of my weaknesses, that I loved him more than anything. He harnessed a feeling more than loathing towards me, and if he had to kill the person I loved more than anyone, he would do that.

I mentally told myself to stop shaking. I was a second too late, because MIR released his sickening laugh once again. I whimpered, covering my ears to block out the horrid sound. I'd dealt with the horrible sound before, but now it was just too much to listen to. The sound continued, as did the whimpers.

The sound grew closer and closer, as the whimpers grew louder and louder. Too soon, though, the same revolting sound was breathing in my ear. "You stupid little piece of shit," he whispered, sending an uncomfortable shiver down my spine.

_I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. _"You try to play it off that you're a courageous little warrior," he continued, standing much too close. I shut my eyes, trying to block all sight of the man I hated more than anything in the world. "But I know better. Nina Martin, you're terrified of me. Completely and utterly terrified, even though you'll never admit it. Just because you've gotten on my nerve, I feel like hurting you or someone you love."

A shiver, this time from relief, spread through my body when I felt him walk away. "Please don't hurt Fabian," I begged, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. I hadn't heard myself crying, but I could feel the wet tears resting on my cheeks. The Man in Red was right: I was terrified of him.

"How about...a win-lose-lose situation?" he suggested, facing me from the other side of the room. I asked him what he wanted, and his smirk reappeared as he said, "Tonight, you will give Fabian a dream. And you will break up with him. You will break his poor, fragile little heart."

* * *

><p><em>"But I'll still love you when the lights come up from our intermission."<em>**  
><strong>

_~Big Time Rush_

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Tuesday, November 8th 10:00 PM**

When I had gone on that date with Nina, I had no idea that it would lead to us breaking up.

I had walked into my room, smiling like an idiot, and even Mick knew what was making me so happy. I couldn't wait: I was going on a date with Nina in my dream tonight.

Fastfoward to the dream and it starts the way it always did - with me landing unsteadily on my feet. Today, though, I wasn't in my normal spot (in the middle of Shadowland), but today I was in the woods. Or a meadow, rather.

I had never really asked Nina about the forest, but she had said that it wasn't the way she was taken in. So obviously, I had no idea that there was a meadow.

The meadow was absolutely huge; it stretched farther than I could see, and the only thing in it was pink flowers. They looked like they were just planted, even though it was the middle of Autumn. I was careful not to get my pants wet as I walked through the meadow, craning my neck to search for my girlfriend.

"Nina?" I called, my steps slow and careful. I could faintly smell something, but couldn't place it, because it seemed so far away. "Hello?" I projected my voice outwards, thinking that Nina might be further down in the meadow. That damn meadow must have been at least a mile wide.

I swore I felt some sort of movement behind me, but I brushed the feeling off, quickening my pace the slightest bit. Nina and I agreed on a date, and if she brought me to the meadow, that's where she must be, right...?

I learned to never doubt my senses because the movement behind me turned out to be Nina. In one swift, quick movement, she jumped up behind me and yelled, "HI!"

I yelped, jumping a little as I turned my body around. My terrified expression melted into relief as I saw my girlfriend standing behind me, a smile stretching from ear to ear. It felt good to know that she was so happy to see me. Nina laughed, slipping her hand into mine.

I didn't notice how cold her hand actually was.

"Hey," I greeted, enveloping her in a hug. It was already tight, but I pulled her in closer. Her hair smelled something like...lemons?

Nina didn't respond. Instead, she pulled back and released the smallest hint of a smile. "Are you ready for our date?"

I nodded, letting Nina lead the way. We walked for a good amount of time through the pink flowers, and the faint smell of food grew stronger. I knew what kind of date we were going on. It only confirmed my suspicion when we finally stood in front of a picnic, pre-laid out by Nina.

"Does it look okay?" she asked innocently. Her eyes had no fire to them; instead, they looked deflated, as if someone had poked a hole in her and she was letting all the air out. "I tried my best. It was hard to find a blanket..."

"No; it looks perfect, Nines," I praised, sitting down on the red-and-white checkered blanket. She sat down also, across from me. As she reached into the weaved basket, a question was nagging at me. "Where did you get all this food?"

I knew that she didn't get a lot to eat, so where did she get the food for the picnic? She shifted uncomfortably, and I could tell she didn't want to meet my eyes. I had no idea what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what she said.

"Eddie," she answered, finally meeting my eyes.

I liked her eyes. Throughout the last three weeks, I had a nagging suspicion that she wasn't here - that she died on the seventeeth, and my mind was playing tricks on me. In the dreams, I liked looking into her eyes because it gave me the sense that she was actually there. The little bit of life left in them was still burning, and I knew she was still alive.

The confusion from her statement finally sunk in. I didn't even have to say anything, because Nina knew me that well. "Eddie Miller," she continued, playing with the strap of her dress. She always did that when she was nervous. "He gave me the food."

"Eddie lives in Anubis House," I told her, but much to my surprise, she didn't seem awed.

"I know," she replied, her voice impossibly small. "He told me."

Everything sunk in after that. The boy that had been visiting her all this time was Eddie; the boy that left but always came back. It explained his absence every night before Mick and I fell asleep, and why he knew the name Nina his first day. It all made sense.

"Oh," I answered, already making plans to slaughter the boy in his sleep. But it wasn't the time to think about that, so I continued, "How about that food, eh?"

"'Course," Nina said, her voice still hoarse. My eyes never left her figure as she bent down, ever so slowly, to pick up the sandwiches. Her movement was extremely slow; it was like she didn't want to pick up the food and hand it to me.

But we did, and after some persuading, I got her to eat her sandwich. She only took three small bites while I finished mine and started on a second, but those three small bites were enough for me to feel satisfied with what she ate.

"I really miss you," I started up, after I finished my second sandwich. Nina wasn't eating anymore, but that was okay with me.

She smiled, and I could tell that it wasn't forced. That she meant her smile and wasn't tricking me into thinking that she was happy. "I miss you too," she told me. "I do. I really, really do..."

It looked like she was hiding something. Just like before, she was avoiding my eyes and fiddling with the handle of the wicker basket. "You can tell me," I deadpanned, scooching closer to her on the blanket. "If you're not telling me something, you should. No secrets, remember?"

I didn't actually think she was going to tell me, but she did.

"I love you."

It took me surprise so quickly I had no idea how to answer. I sat there, dumbfounded, my mouth agape. I remained silent, but Nina didn't care because she continued, "I do. I love you. And Amber thinks I'm selfish for sending the dreams but all I want to do is get back to you at Anubis House. So I'm sorry. And I just want to tell you that I love you. I really, really love you."

"I..." I couldn't finish my statement. My jaw unhinged and not for the first time around Nina, I was speechless. So I did the most rational thing I could think of.

"I love you too."

_Oh my God I said it I actually said it I said those three words what's going to happen now oh my God -_

"Fabian, I think we need to take a break."

"W-what?" I stuttered, her words taking me by surprise once again. Just two seconds ago, she had said she loved me, and now she thinks we need to take a break. What was this madness?

"Not break up. Just...like...take a break from dating." she scratched the back of her head. "For now."

"But...w-why? Why do you think we need a break?" In my opinion, I thought we were doing well for a couple in two different dimensions. My heart was breaking every time she spoke, and I knew that if she said some more all the pieces would be at the bottom of my stomach.

"This...well...this long-distance isn't working," she spoke her excuse. "We're in two different dimensions. You're at Anubis House with everyone and I'm in Shadowland, all alone. This isn't working. It's not like we can keep going like this, only seeing each other for ten minutes every night...it can't work."

"Nina, I...I don't understand."

I could hear her mutter something under her breath, but I couldn't catch it. Then, she spoke with more clarity. "I love you, Fabian, but we need to take a break. Somehow, we fell off track, but I know love will lead us back."

"I'm still going to love you when this break's over," I stated, standing up from our picnic blanket. "When you feel that we can get back together, I'm still gonna love you."

The dream ended.

* * *

><p><em>"I'm still gonna love you when the lights come up from our intermission."<em>

_~Big Time Rush_

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 7:00 AM**

I was probably the only quiet one at breakfast that morning.

After all, I would have no idea how to voice my thoughts. Nina and I had broken up last night. There was no other way to deny it; Nina and I had broken up.

While Sibuna was chatting around the breakfast table, stealing pitchers of orange juice and pouring salt over people's heads, I remained quiet, playing with the piece of toast on my plate. I didn't feel like eating. Since Nina had broken up me, I probably wouldn't get any more dreams; Amber would and Nina and her weren't on the best terms as of late.

As much as he tried to deny it, Alfie really _was_ a Seeker, because he could tell that I was being silent, much to my horror.

"Hey, guys!" he exclaimed, shushing the entire table. "Fabian's being quiet and it's not because he's being shy. There's a reason...care to tell us what it is, Fabian?"

"Eh, not really..." I murmured to myself, stirring the straw around in circles, not daring to meet anyone's eyes. I wasn't keen to tell anyone that my girlfriend and I had taken a break.

"I can always find it out myself, Fabian," Alfie threatened, a smirk making its way across his face. I cursed him and his newly aquired ability of knowledge. While everyone else knew their powers, I was the only one that didn't. I was the Chosen One's boyfriend (well, ex-boyfriend), and I still didn't know what my power was. I felt kind of left out...almost like Patricia did, because she hasn't gotten a dream yet.

"It's nothing," I lied through my teeth, forcing myself to look up and face everyone's piercing gazes aimed at me. "I was just thinking about the dream I had last night."

"You had a dream?" Patricia growled, meeting my eyes. Her glare was utterly ferocious; so vicious that it could probably kill a tiger. "How come I'm not getting dreams? I'm Nina's friend too! Granted, I'm not her boyfriend, but I deserve to get a dream too, right?"

Looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have said with Patricia, the girl who could hear anything, listening. "Get over it, Patricia. I'm not her boyfriend either."

"What do you mean?" her ferocious expression turned to confusion as she pushed herself off of her seat and stumbled over to the empty seat next to me, the head of the table; Nina's seat. The other people at the table remained silent. Even Alfie was quiet, and that was saying something.

I already regretted saying it. If I wasn't with seven other people, I probably would have punched myself for saying something so stupid. Now that it was out of my mouth and into the open, they would question me until they got the real truth out of me.

Better to tell them now than later.

"What I mean is that Nina and I broke up last night," I groaned, blinking more than usual. I let out a sad breath of air and sat back in my chair, playing with my food again. Murmurs and whispers broke out across the table, so thick that you couldn't concentrate on just one conversation. I rolled my eyes, going back to shoving food into my mouth.

"You and Nina broke up?" someone asked, but I didn't care enough to place the voice. Thinking about last night, what she said about us having to take a break...it broke my heart. All I wanted was the dreams to end, and Nina to come back to Anubis House safe and sound while everyone else resumed a normal year at a normal boarding school. I wasn't planning on breaking up with Nina, but...

"Yes, we broke up. Well, apparently, we're 'taking a break', so I guess we're still together but we're not...together. I don't even know," I said, sitting up in my chair again.

Amber spoke to me for the first time this morning. "Was that what happened in your dream last night? She broke up with you? Wow...I was right. She really is selfish!"

From the corner of my eye, I could see Alfie and Mara talking to each other in whispers. They were talking too fast and Alfie was cupping his mouth with his hand so I couldn't see his lips move. I supposed they were talking about "Seeker" business, but they both continued to sneak glances at me, so I became suspicious. I didn't even answer Amber's statement, because I knew she was exaggerating her point.

Two days ago, on the night Mara was taken, Amber came into my room, bawling her eyes out. She told me that she didn't want to sleep in her room tonight, because two people who slept in there were taken to the same exact place. When she said _two_, I knew she meant Mara _and_ Nina, and that's when I knew she wasn't truly mad at her.

I guessed she was still playing the "selfish" card, which, to be quite honest, was getting old.

I didn't have anything else to say, so I continued ripping off pieces of my toast and shoving it into my mouth. Mara and Alfie hadn't stopped whispering, and Amber was wearing her famous _Whatever_ expression. The dining room remained silent, until-

"I went to Shadowland yesterday."

Mick said it. He broke the silence by saying the first thing he had all morning. All heads turned to him; even Mara and Alfie stopped murmuring to each other. No one asked him any questions, because the silence in the dining room was eerily quiet.

The silence probably would have continued forever, but Trudy came rushing into the kitchen from wherever she was before, yelling, "GET TO SCHOOL! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" she sounded as if being late was the worst thing in the world.

The group walked to school together. Some walked ahead, in groups, or alone. I myself was alone, but I yelled to the entire group, "Meeting. After school. Amber's room. Meet us there."

The only thing I heard before I jogged to the school's entrance was Patricia asking, "Where the hell is Eddie?"

**xXx**

**3:00 PM**

"Okay, Mick. It's time to explain what you meant by 'I went to Shadowland yesterday'."

"Well, exactly how it sounds," he deadpanned, playing with his fingers. It seemed most of Sibuna did that when they were nervous. "I put on the cap I found in the graveyard, I focused on Shadowland and...it brought me there."

"Well, now you're added to the list," Patricia sneered. "A person she didn't even know very well. Like, at all. I think you two shared like one conversation in a year!" Patricia huffed, and leaned back against Amber's headboard.

Just like I said, Sibuna had met in Amber's room for a meeting to discuss everything that had been going on. Everyone in Anubis House was here - well, everyone except Eddie. Eddie was confusing me to no lengths, but Patricia seemed to know what he was doing, though she wouldn't tell me.

"Shut it, Patricia," I recited. She had been going on about how mad she was that she hadn't gotten a dream yet. I understood what she was ranting about, but she seemed to be extra-passionate about the subject. Ever since Mick announced that he was brought to Shadowland, Patricia didn't stop complaining to me about how 'rude' that was all day.

"Can you explain?" I continued, leaning forward. I was sitting across from Mick - he was sitting on Amber's bed, while I was sitting on Nina's. Patricia and Amber also sat on Amber's bed, while Mara and Alfie sat side-by-side on Nina's bed with me. Everyone else (Jerome and Joy) were sitting on the floor, cross-legged. Much to my surprise, Jerome wasn't mad that Mick was in Sibuna before he was.

"Sort of...well, I guess none of you noticed I was gone, did you? It went a little something like this..."

_~flashback~  
>Mick's Point of View<em>

_I never would have thought that Fabian and Amber were telling the truth when they said there was a rough landing in Shadowland._

_Unfortunately, I experienced it for myself, because I landed so unsteadily on my feet that I actually fell over. Sprawled out on my stomach, I reached around for a solid piece of ground to hold on to while I pushed myself up._

_I was only about two inches off of the ground when I heard laughter. It didn't sound familiar - but thinking about it later, I was never around that laughter much to compare it to. I looked up, and when I caught sight of the laugher, I noticed it was Nina._

_Compared to Fabian and Amber's statements about her being upset, it didn't look that way now; her face was scrunched up and her cheeks were puffed, like any normal human being looked when they laughed. At the sound of her laughter, I felt a bit embarrased; it wasn't my fault that I fell. Did Nina always laugh when Fabian and Amber came to Shadowland?_

_"Ah, that never gets old," she chuckled, finally containing her laughter enough to look me in the eye. Her smile was still plastered onto her face, but I could see in her eyes that she was determined. "It took you long enough."_

_"W-what do you mean?" I sputtered, fumbling for words. First she was laughing at me, and now she was criticizing me? I almost understood what Nina meant about being infuriating. _

_"What I mean is that I'm surprised at how long it took you to figure out how to get to Shadowland, Mick," she explained, standing her ground. "You may not have Mara's grades, but you're smarter than you look. I was surprised it took you this long to figure it out."_

_The first thing I could think of, even with Nina, the missing girl who was supposed to be dead, in front of me, the only thing that came to mind was to ask, "What's my power? What does my hat have to do with anything?"_

_"Well, I'm going to keep this short and simple, considering people might be wondering where you are by now," she said, guilt overcoming her tone. She swallowed down the guilt and said to me, "You don't have an official name, but you're an important person. Look, Amber thinks I'm being selfish, and, well, maybe I am, but you need to do what I say. It's for the best, and you have to trust it. You're the person who can take yourself or other people to Shadowland - all you have to do is put on your hat and think of this place. Think of the forest and the house and the lake. You can come to Shadowland, all at the blink of an eye. Okay...I think it's time to send you back. Oh, Mick...I liked having this three-minute conversation with you."  
><em>

_~End of flashback~_

"Damn," was the only thing Fabian and Amber had to say.

**xXx**

**Amber  
>Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 11:00 PM<strong>

I had to admit: I wasn't actually expecting a dream.**  
><strong>

After all, Nina and I weren't on the best terms as of late. She and I had been constantly fighting to which, I admit, was partially my fault. But I had an opinion and I had the right to express my opinion. Which, once again, probably wasn't the best idea.

Patricia was actually expecting the dream; she didn't think Nina would send one to Fabian, seeing as though she was the one to break up with him, and she wouldn't send one to me because we were fighting.

Well, she was right about the one with Fabian. He wasn't the one to receive the dream, much to his disappointment; I was. I was the dreamer this time.

Just like Mick explained earlier that afternoon, I landed unsteadily on my feet, but I didn't stumble and fall like he did; his fall actually brought out quite a chuckle in the group when he said that. But, sticking to the dream at hand, the first thing I saw when I looked up was my ex-best friend and roommate.

"All I have to say to you is that I learned that Eddie is a spy. That he leaves Anubis House every night to give the Man in Red details about all of you every day. I hope that makes you happy."

She was crying. Not just one or two tears here and there, but there were tears streaming freely down her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and she sounded congested as hell. Something about the fact of Eddie's betrayal had hit her hard, and I didn't know why.

She was still crying as she ended the dream.

I didn't even get to tell her I wasn't mad at her anymore.

**xXx**


	34. Verdad y Falso

**A/N -101 years ago, on April 15th, 1912, the RMS Titanic sunk into the Atlantic Ocean at 2:20 AM after hitting the iceberg at 11:40 PM. The Titanic means so much to me - the movie, and the real ship. To all those who died on that fateful night, Rest In Peace. I love you.**

**(Yes the title is in Spanish shh.)**

**I don't think I've ever addressed this, but it's definitely time. Don't Be Afraid has 24,000 views. TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND VIEWS. WHAT DA CHEESE. What did I ever do to deserve that? What kind of 14 year old girl has the right to be on 72 users Favorites list? Why are you following the story written by a girl who's mentally unstable because of her OTP? **

**I just...wow...thank you, guys. That's all I have to say. You've made this possible, and I know that when the time comes for me to finally publish the last chapter, I'm going to be crying. I've been writing this story for 18 months now - over a year. Don't Be Afraid means so much to me, and I'm so glad it means so much to my readers. I, just...wow. Just, wow.**

**Oh, yeah, and guess what I just figured out? Don't Be Afraid is LITERALLY the longest story in the HoA archive. I'm not talking about how many chapters there are, but I'm talking about words. DBA has over 124,000 words. I literally wrote (and am currently writing) the longest story in the archive. Holy shit.**

**Also, I want to clear something up: the controversy over the Alternate Names. You know how, in the early chapters, you kept seeing random names like "Joey", "Amanda" or "Natalie" pop up? Yeah. The reason for that is my stupidity. Back in the late months of 2011 and the early months of 2012, when I was writing this, I didn't like writing the character's names. I wouldn't be able to physically write/type the sentence, "Amber and Alfie held hands while Patricia trailed behind them, leaning closer to Eddie." I had to change the names, so the sentence above would look something like, "Amanda and Joey held hands while Alexa trailed behind them, leaning closer to Adam." By chapter 13, I realized that the names were stupid and I forced myself to write the real names. Does that clear everything up? (:**

**I do hope you enjoy this chapter, because it is currently 2:20 AM on 4/15/13. I stayed up until 2:20 AM to pay tribute to Titanic, and all who died on it's fateful maiden voyage. I'm going to be watching the movie either right after I update this, or later today. The movie, as well as the ship, mean the world to me, and Titanic has touched me more than any movie ever could. Thank you, James Cameron, for making my favorite movie, because even when I'm an elderly lady, it will continue to be my favorite. Once again: Titanic passengers, Rest In Peace. You are not forgotten.  
><strong>

**I'm going to make this A/N even longer by saying why I update on Mondays. It's not just a random date, guys. I chose the day because one of my very favorite stories, "beautiful", by pink-strawberry-lemonade, always updated on Mondays, and I still remember waiting for the day and fangirling when I came home from camp, just because I'd be able to read a new chapter. The story is forever incomplete, but it still continues to be one of my favorite stories. That's why I update on Mondays. (:**

**Oh yeah, and ONE FINAL THING. To all those who review but I never thank - THANK YOU. I know you guys exist and I love it even more when you review, and I'm so thankful for you. I would thank you by PMs, but I'm so damn lazy and I just don't have the time anymore with all the writing I'm doing. So, thank you so much and I'm grateful for you and no, I'm not a person who takes her reviews for granted. God, I put A/N's into my chapters to make my readers feel comfortable with reading and know that I'm not a robot and I have feelings. Like, right now I'm excited because I get to go to Friendly's later. But I'm also sad because today is Titanic's anniversary and I'm listening to My Heart Will Go On. WHY DOES THAT DAMN SONG HAVE TO BE SO DAMN SAD.**

**DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own House of Anubis. All the rights belong to Nickelodeon. And even if I changed my name to Nickelodeon, it still wouldn't be mine. Jerome, however, is trying to smuggle me the papers so I CAN own it. Let's see how it goes...  
>~Julianna<br>**

* * *

><p><em>chapter 34: Verdad y Falso<em>

**Fabian  
>Friday, November 11th, 2011 1:00 PM<strong>

I never would have thought that my school would be so immature over the date. I understood that it was 11/11/11, and that it would only come once every one hundred years, but everyone was in high school now.

It pretty much lasted all day, and 11/11/11 jokes were hovering in the air all day. Finally, the school day was coming to a close as 7th period came around. Anubis House was in English class with Mrs. Andrews.

I was barely paying attention. I never thought that I would be as lonely as I was now; ever since Mara discovered that she wasn't the only Seeker, she'd been spending every waking moment with Alfie. Jerome, however, felt left out, because his best friend and his girlfriend were spending time with each other instead of with him. Amber and Patricia, now partners, would never leave each others sides. The people that were all alone in Anubis House were Jerome, Joy, and myself.

Joy was sitting next to me in English class. Normally, I'd pay attention, but other things were on my mind. No one in Sibuna had gotten a dream last night; Amber had received one on Wednesday, but she refused to talk about it. I told her to write it in the Dream Log, but she wouldn't even touch the damn thing.

Amber was annoying the hell out of me. First, she holds a grudge against Nina for approximately eleven days, then she comes into my room, bawling her damn eyes out, and tells me she was never mad at her. Even though she told me she wasn't mad at Nina anymore, she still acted like she was furious with her. Now that she refused to talk about her dream (She had said that she had learned something, though), Amber was pushing me beyond the boiling point.

I had planned to ask Nina what she had told Amber last night, but I didn't get a dream. No one in Sibuna did, after all.

I sat in my desk, tapping my pencil against the edge of the table. While Mrs. Andrews talked, I was thinking about everything that had happened since Nina's disappearance; the physical clues we had gotten, the things we learned about Shadowland, and everything else...

I was brought back to Earth when I saw a piece of paper being slid across the desk toward me. When I caught sight of the handwriting, I knew it was Joy; she always dotted her i's with hearts. When Mrs. Andrews was facing her back to me, I opened the folded piece of paper and read Joy's note.

_Do you want to go out into Town tomorrow? I saw this really cute pair of shoes and I finally have the money to get them. I would invite Patricia first, but she's too busy with Amber. So, how about it? -Joy :)_

I started thinking about the things I would miss if I went with her. I wouldn't be able to interrogate Amber about what she was hiding, and I _knew_ she was hiding something she learned from her dream. Then again: I deserved to have some fun. I had only gone into Town once in the past 3 weeks, because Sibuna had been so involved with the dreams.

When Mrs. Andrews wasn't looking, I gripped my pencil from the edge of the desk and started writing my reply.

_Sure, why not? You better not forget any of your money and ask me to pay for some of it, though... -Fabian_

Joy's reply came fairly quickly.

_Thank you! Don't worry, I won't... -Joy :)  
><em>

Joy always put a smiley face at the end of her messages, even when she was handwriting the note. Now that I had plans for Saturday, I breathed out a sigh and sat back in my chair. Soon enough, the bell rang, signaling the end of the Seventh Period.

I rushed out of the classroom, but Amber and Patricia stopped me before I could run to my next class, which was History with Mrs. Fitzgerald. Our original teacher for History was Mr. Winkler, but he was dropped by the Man in Red, and no one had seen him since. Nina had told us he died on Halloween.

"Where do you think you're going?" Patricia growled playfully, grabbing my pack from behind me. I rolled my eyes and turned around to face the redhead, accompanied by the blonde.

"To History," I stated simply, "just like you two are. Could you be so kind as to let me go so I reach my locker and the classroom before I'm late?"

"You won't be late," Mara piped, approaching us from the other side of the hallway. Mara and Alfie were the Seekers: they could know the answer to every question. It made sense why Mara was one of them, but why Alfie was a Seeker was beyond me. He wasn't as smart as Mara, and he'd probably never be. He was a goofball who pulled pranks with Jerome daily. What did he have to do with knowledge?

"Good to know," I muttered bitterly, in response to Amber's statement. Patricia had let go of the strap, so I was free to run away, but since everyone else was here, I decided to stay.

Before I could continue my statement, Jerome and Joy walked towards us from the other side of the hallway. I wasn't sure where Eddie was - but he seemed to be avoiding us at all costs. Amber especially. I brushed the thought away and continued speaking. "So, have we found out anything new?"

We all started to walk to the History classroom. There was a chorus of "No"'s, and a shake of heads, and in less than thirty seconds, we arrived in Mrs. Fitzgerald's classroom. Like always, Amber and Patricia sat next to each other, as did Mara and Alfie. Joy sat next to me, like she had been doing all day.

I didn't think Eddie was going to show up, but having only five seconds to spare, he ran into the classroom and took a seat next to Jerome. Ever since he moved here, he'd been having trouble remembering Jerome's name, so Eddie had been calling him "Jerry" for the past week or two. You could tell that Jerome wasn't particularly enjoying the experience.

I sucked in a large breath of air as the teacher walked into the room and greeted us with, "Good morning, class!" We echoed her sentence as she sat down in the desk and starting filing papers.

Joy asked me in a whisper where Mr. Winkler was, but I dismissed her with a wave of my hand. Mrs. Fitzgerald started to talk about what was happening in Acient Egypt at the moment, and as much as I wanted to pay attention, I had other things on my mind.

When I was sure Mrs. Fitzgerald was looking away, I grabbed my pack from the other side of my chair and smuggled the Dream Log out of one of the pockets. I reached around for my pencil and when the teacher wasn't looking, I began to write my entry into the Dream Log.

_Friday, November 11th, 2011 1:10 PM  
>Remember when I wasn't mad at Amber?<br>Scratch that. Amber is annoying me beyond belief here. Only a few days ago, she came into my room, bawling her eyes out. She then proceeds to tell me that she wasn't mad at Nina anymore, even though she was holding a grudge against her best friend for eleven days. Even after I knew Amber wasn't mad at Nina anymore, she still tried to play it off that she remained pissed.  
>Now, I know Amber had a dream on Wednesday night, but she refuses to tell me and I haven't the slightest idea why. I do have two ideas: 1) Nina's clue was so shocking that she paralyzed Amber into the state of denial or 2) Nina didn't give Amber a clue at all because the two were screaming their heads off at each other the whole time.<em>

"Um...Fabian, what is that?" Joy interrupted my writing session, whispering into my ear. I jumped, but as soon as I registered the girl sitting next to me, I relaxed. Unfortunately, that only reminded me of how Patricia jumped every time I touched her when she went blind...

"Nothing," I whispered back, but added, "Just something to do with the search." I didn't say anything after that, but I did continue my entry.

_The last time I had a dream was on Tuesday night, and, well...I'm just going to come out and say it because this is a notebook I'm writing to. Nina broke up with me.  
>She did. Nina broke up with me. With no warning, may I add. And what only makes it worse is that two minutes before she broke up with me, she told me she loved me. Genuinely. Like she told me how much she loved me when I wouldn't respond.<br>I told her I loved her too, obviously. It was true; I did love her. But if I knew she was going to break up with me thirty seconds after I told her that, well...I probably wouldn't have said it. Now it's out into the open and Nina knows I said it so she can tell people or some shit. I don't even know._

I lifted my head up when I heard the name "Joy" being called. Mrs. Fitzgerald had called on the girl sitting next to me to answer a question. Joy, who was actually paying attention to the lesson, could answer the question with a right answer. And I swear that before Mrs. Fitzgerald turned her attention to the whiteboard, she locked eyes with me for a second.

I swear to God that when she looked into my eyes that she knew something. That she wasn't just another teacher here to take Mr. Winkler's place. She kept her eyes locked on mine, and didn't leave my gaze for a good ten seconds.

I started writing as soon as she turned her back.

_Why did she break up with me? I know there has to be a reason. There's a reason behind everything. The dreams are messing everything up; first it turns Nina's best friend against her, and now she had to break up with her boyfriend (Me, obviously) in a dream, which I know is killing her. If I know Nina, I wouldn't doubt that she's crying right now._

"Patricia, if you could answer this question, please."

Just to make sure I was comprehending the lesson so I didn't fail the upcoming test, I lifted my head up from the pages of my notebook and listened to a few minutes of the lesson. I completely forgot about my Dream Log entry because I was so caught up in the lesson, but I turned back to the notebook in the last fifteen minutes of class.

_This leaves Sibuna with two questions: What is Amber hiding and why did Nina break up with me?  
>I love her. I do, really. I never wanted to break up...and, well, technically, we're not broken up; "we're just taking a break," Nina said. Which, to some degree, is breaking up. She's breaking my heart here...all I want to do is see Nina back in Anubis House safe and sound.<em>

**(A/N - As I write this sentence, the clock tells me it is 11:40 PM on April 14th. 101 years ago right now, the RMS Titanic hit the iceberg that sunk it.)  
><strong>

_I just hope Nina isn't crying over me._

"Mr. Rutter, would you be so kind as to tell the class what you've been writing all period?"

Shit.

_Shit._

"Nothing, Mrs. Fitzgerald. Just some notes for the class, is all," I lied smoothly, hoping that she bought it. I cringed as I slowly started to close the Dream Log and put it into my pack, but the teacher said something that made me want to scream.

"Okay, Fabian. Then you wouldn't mind reading what you wrote to the class then, hmm?" she raised the eyebrows above her blue eyes the slightest bit, challenging me.

Oh, God.

_Oh, God._

"Um..." I stuttered, knowing the whole class was staring at me. I hated attention. I hated it, I hated it, I hated it. If I wanted Mrs. Fitzgerald to get off my case... "Um, not really. It doesn't really make a lot of sense since I was just scribbling it down, and -"

"This is not a request, Fabian," Mrs. Fitzgerald spat, her eyes boring into my soul. "Please come up here and read it before I take the journal _from_ you."

Swallowing down the panic that was rising in my throat, I pushed myself out of my seat without a word, carrying the Dream Log with me. I made sure that the side that read "Sibuna's Dream Log" was facing my chest, because if anyone saw it, I'd be dead.

I tried to form a plan in my head of how this was going to work, how I was going to read it. The whole entire school thought that Nina was dead; I couldn't just read the entry that said her name like ten times and talked about our breakup. They'd think I was crazy and send me to a mental ward.

_I can just make something up on the spot,_ I told myself, quickly approaching the front of the classroom. _I can think of something from my childhood and tell the class that I was trying to remember something from when I was four so I had to write it down. Yeah, that'll work...but what would happen if Mrs. Fitzgerald is reading over my shoulder?_

I thought of a solution to that problem rather quickly. _Okay, if she's looking over my shoulder, just read a part of the entry that doesn't contain the name Nina or the word "dream". That is, if there is a part in the entry that doesn't contain the name Nina or the word "Dream". I mean, the whole entry is based around the dreams that Nina gives us -_

"Mr. Rutter, are you going to start reading?" Mrs. Fitzgerald said, stopping my train of thought. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't realized I'd been standing in the front of the classroom for a good ten seconds and hadn't said anything.

"Yeah, yeah...I'll...I'll start reading...right now. I'll start reading right now."

I tried to hide the front of the cover with my hands, but I obviously couldn't check because Mrs. Fitzgerald would think something was suspicious (or more suspicious than I was already acting), so I prayed to all the gods that my hand was covering the words.

I flipped to my recent entry and cleared my throat. I'd had horrible stage fright since I was six;standing in front of the whole class was terrifying me. I caught Amber's eyes and she gave me a tiny thumbs-up from where she was sitting.

I wasn't thinking. I admit that much. Because as soon as I turned my attention to the neat handwriting on my paper, I started to read the first sentence.

Big mistake. I said, "Remember when I wasn't mad at Amber?" and I quickly remembered that there was an Amber in the class, sitting right in front of me. Sibuna knew what I was talking about; they'd seen the Dream Log before. (Not Patricia, though; she's still mad that it's been three weeks and three days and she hasn't gotten a dream yet, so she refuses to read any of the Dream Log entries from myself or Amber.)

But the class wouldn't know what I was talking about. They knew about Amber Millingon, because she was an actual living, breathing human being. However, I should be grateful I was a fast thinker, because the new problem already had a solution.

"Sorry," I muttered quickly. trying to convince the class that I screwed up. I tried to think of a name to change Amber too, and the first word that came to mind was Ana. It sounded like Amber, so hopefully people would be convinced that I had just messed up the words.

"Um...yeah, so..." I continued reciting my Dream Log entry, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Mrs. Fitzgerald walk out from behind her desk. "Remember when I said I wasn't mad at Ana?" I repeated, emphasizing the name _Ana_. "Scratch that. Ana is annoying me beyond belief here. Only a few days ago, she came into my room, bawling her eyes out."

A few snickers were heard from the students, and Mrs. Fitzgerald shushed them from where she was standing behind me. My worst fears were confirmed at that very moment; she was standing behind me at that very moment, reading over my shoulder. Mrs. Fitzgerald saw what I was reading...I really had to read the whole thing this time.

I was already embarrassed beyond belief. I could feel my face turning a tomato red; maybe an even darker shade of red, if that was even possible. I hated attention and every eye in the classroom was now trained on me. I breathed a sigh and continued reading, because the teacher behind me would be watching.

I continued, "She then proceeds to tell me that she wasn't mad at..."

The next word would be Nina. I couldn't say the name, because everyone thought that Nina Martin was dead. Long gone. Never coming back. I had to continue; Mrs. Fitzgerald was still standing behind me.

I glanced at the clock. Only thirty seconds left of class.

"She wasn't mad at...she wasn't mad at the teacher..." I stumbled over my words, trying to block the notebook from Mrs. Fitzgerald's view.

_Twenty-three seconds..._

"She wasn't mad at the teacher because...because even though he gave her a bad grade, he was a good teacher..."

_Twelve seconds..._

"And...and she'd been having nightmares about losing her good grades because...because...um...she..."

I could feel sweat dripping down my forehead, but luckily, the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, before I could continue.

I didn't pay attention to the people who were laughing at me on their way out the door. I rolled my eyes as someone mocked me - stuttering over his words as he walked out of the doorway. I met up with Joy again, and we were about to walk out the door, but then-

"Not so fast, Fabian."

Mrs. Fitzgerald's voice. I cringed as I turned around, only to face the replacement teacher sitting at her desk, drumming her fingers on the hard wood. "Ms. Mercer, you can go on ahead to your House. Now, Mr. Rutter, what was that?" she asked as Joy walked out of the doorway.

"Um...I kind of got nervous when I was standing in front of the class, that's all. I don't have a lot of confidence, you see." I stuttered over my words once again, and I wasn't 100% sure that she bought it.

"Very well. That's okay," she told me, and even though I was still wasn't convinced, I took her words as a dismissal; unfortunately, they were anything other than. She stopped me midway through my journey to the door. "Fabian, I would like to keep the notebook you're holding."

Fear coursed through me at that exact moment. Mrs. Fitzgerald could not see what was written in this notebook. _She could not see._ She wouldn't understand; no one would ever understand the dreams except for those who lived in Anubis House. Besides, ever since we learned that Jason Winkler was involved with the Man in Red, Sibuna had learned not to trust the teachers. More so than last time, at least.

"Uh...w-why, Miss?" I stumbled, moving closer to her desk. I could hear the echoes of all the students leaving the school, and suddenly, something hit me. This was what happened to Nina; on October 17th, she was asked to stay after school by Jason Winkler, and after she was dismissed to go home, he went back and kidnapped her, bringing her to Shadowland.

I was staying after school with a teacher, just like Nina was all those days ago. I could feel the goosebumps forming, but I didn't have time to dwell on that fact much longer, since Mrs. Fitzgerald interrupted my thoughts with her speech again.

"Just to see what you've really written in there, Fabian. I know you weren't speaking what was written, and I just want to see that there's nothing wrong or inappropriate."

"That's my property!" I complained, but of course didn't do anything about it. "You can't take that away from me!"

"It was a distraction," Mrs. Fitzgerald stated smoothly, like she had been practicing the line inside her head. "It was distracting you from my class, and now it will no longer be a distraction, so I can take it away from you, actually."

My heart fell to the pit of my stomach. What would Sibuna think? I was one of the oldest members, one of the smartest and most trusted. How could I tell them that I lost the Dream Log to a teacher right under my fingertips?

"Will-will I get it back?" Was the only rational statement I could think of at the moment. I wasn't feeling so hot; fear and guilt were coursing through my blood.

"Possibly," said Mrs. Fitzgerald, and she didn't say anything after that. I didn't dare try to tell her anything else as she grabbed the Dream Log from my fingertips and locked it in her desk drawer. A look of utmost defeat crossed my face and I returned to Anubis House, ready to face the fate that awaited me.

Oh, that would be fun.

**xXx**

**Amber  
>Friday, November 11th, 2011 5:00 PM<strong>

A black car pulled up in front of Anubis House.

I squealed, kissed Trudy and Alfie goodbye, and threw my small rucksack around my shoulder as I raced out into the driveway to sit next to Daddy in his car.

"Pumpkin!" he greeted, throwing his arms around my neck. I wasn't nearly his size, so I wrapped my arms around his waist and stayed like that for minutes.

I hadn't seen my father since the Summer. Granted, it had only been two and a half months, but he was away on business, so I hadn't talked to him in that time either. A few days ago, he invited me to come home with him over the weekend to visit Kiwi, my horse, and I gratefully accepted.

"Daddy!" I responded, once we had released our grips on each other. Anybody could see that our love for each other was was stronger than most father-daughter relationships. Daddy squeezed my hand as he drove out of sight of Anubis House and onto the highway, heading towards our house.

We started to chat on our way there; talk about school, work, and other random things. Once, he brought up the subject of my friends, and I guessed he remembered me talking about Nina from last summer, because he asked me about her.

It's not like I could tell him that Nina was kidnapped by an evil man who turned out to be a spirit and had been sending us dreams for the past three weeks, so I told him that she was good. Soon enough, the car pulled up in front of our house. Home sweet home.

The house was much too big to describe; only two floors, but those measly two floors housed so much furniture at the moment that it would be impossible to name all the designers, all the different types of furniture, in one sitting. It was a white Colonial with black-rimmed windows, and around the backside stood the stables, housing my horse.

"You go on ahead and visit Kiwi, pumpkin," he told me, kissing my hair. I smiled in response and took off sprinting toward the stables. Immediately, the smell of hay, horse dung, and sweat filled the air, and nothing could have smelled sweeter. I loved the smell of the stables, because that meant Kiwi was nearby.

Just as promised, when I turned the corner, my horse was standing up, right there in front of me. I ran to her and hugged her; it had been too long since I'd seen her gorgeous face. The standard Hello's followed: me telling her all about my school life, even though I knew she couldn't understand, as she was a horse.

"It's all about dreams nowadays, Kiwi," I breathed as I fed my horse another carrot. I pet her gray mane as I continued, "Nina's been sending us dreams, because she wants us to find her, which is ultimately impossible. She's in another dimension, for God's sake."

Kiwi neighed in response.

"I know, I know," I replied, as if we were talking. It seemed like we were. I stepped into Kiwi's stable and started to pet her side. "I haven't ridden you in months, have I?" I drawled, already planning the route in which we would take.

Soon enough, the saddle sat upon her back and I was riding Kiwi across the grounds. The rush returned; the fresh feeling of wind pushing my hair against my face, the dropping feeling in my stomach when she jumped a hurdle. It felt nice to be home, even if I hadn't seen my mum or my brother yet.

I must have been out riding with Kiwi for a good hour before my hearing started to diminish. And I didn't even know I was going deaf; I wasn't paying attention to what I was hearing, because horseback riding based mostly on sight. Lucky for me, sight was my forte; I was the One Who Can See, after all. Every little detail of the backyard was picked out and almost painted in detail; I could see the decaying rust on one of the older hurdles and the broken pump on the other side of the yard.

I wasn't thinking about hearing. I concentrated on what was in front of me, so it makes sense why I didn't hear the girl running away from Kiwi, who was just about to crush her.

It's not like I could hear myself stopping, but I halted Kiwi and jumped off the back of my horse, rushing to the girl who was crouched on the grass, sobbing into her hands. I couldn't hear if she was telling me anything obviously; I was deaf then. I tried, awkwardly, to comfort the sobbing girl, even though I couldn't hear her crying.

It didn't occur to me why my senses had been lost, though; I didn't even stop to think that Nina's presence was near. Unfortunately, the reality hit me dead hard when a hand touched my shoulder. I figured it was my dad or mum, probably asking why I was comforting a crying girl who I had never seen before and wasn't saying anything to her. But no; it turned out to be Nina.

Like I said many times before, I'd been having mixed feelings about Nina. She was my best friend, ever since we became roomates; but when she started giving Fabian dreams, I started to question her morals. She seemed selfish to me, sending us dreams, only to get back here at Anubis House.

So, for the first time in a year, Nina and I had fought. I admit that like 95% of it was my fault and my own stupidity, but I was still mad at her...a little. I didn't want to be mad at her...Nina was my best friend then, and she was still my best friend now. I wanted to make up with her, but I couldn't do so in my previous dream because she had ended it before I could tell her that I wasn't mad anymore.

Now, she was standing in front of me, wearing the same exact clothes she was wearing on the day she disappeared.

**(As I write this sentence, the clock tells me it is 2:20 AM on April 15th. The ship is now officially underwater, dooming 1,500 to death. Rest In Peace, angels.)**

Her hair didn't look any different than it did on October 17th. Her skin wasn't bruised and flawed like it was now. I didn't know how she was looking like that; the Man in Red abused her. I knew that much. Where on Earth did she come from?

"If you're just going to tell at me," Nina spoke, her voice hoarse, "then I'm going to leave."

I didn't know what to do, or what to say. I stood, my mouth agape, still pondering over the question of how she was in the same exact clothes she was on October 17th.

When I didn't respond, Nina sucked in a deep breath of air. "Okay, you're not saying anything. That's good enough. I'll just go now-"

She was leaving, and there was only one rational thing I could think of to do. I grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving.

Big mistake. I knew she was abused by the Man in Red, but I didn't think she wouldn't want me touching her. I didn't think it was that bad...but it obviously was, because she tore her hand out of my grasp and jumped back a little.

"I - I'm sorry," I apologized, knowing that it was the right thing to me. Nina and I might not have been on the best terms, but when you hurt someone, you were supposed to apologize, right?

She wasn't freaking out like I expected her to. Instead, she stayed put in her spot, facing the grass underneath her. I wasn't Patricia but I could hear Nina mutter clearly, "You didn't seem very sorry when you were cursing me out and telling me how much I was selfish."

"I...I know. And I wanted to tell you in my last dream that...that I was sorry. I don't know why I was so cruel...and, wait, how are you here? Damnit, Nina, you made me go deaf again!" I realized, pointing toward the other end of the field. "I could have killed that girl crying over there, you know!"

"Are you seriously fighting with me right now?" she growled, standing up straighter, but the exasperated expression stayed glued to her face. I could tell she was tired of fighting with me, and I was too.

"I - I - I am, but I don't want to, and...I just..."

Nina didn't move.

I didn't move.

Then, it happened. I sobbed, throwing my arms around Nina's neck, and she echoed my action. The next thing I knew, we were both sobbing at the same time and telling each other how much we missed each other and how much we were sorry. Our sentences collided with each others and it was a mess of words.

"Nina, I missed you so much and I'm so sorry I acted like I was mad at you because I wasn't I really wasn't and you're my BAF and I'm so sorry -"

"Amber I'm so sorry that I've been so selfish and I missed you so much I'll never get mad at you again and -"

We stayed like that for a while, just holding each other and sobbing, saying how much we were sorry. Our apologies could probably be heard across the street because we were so loud.

**xXx**

**9:45 PM**

I returned to Anubis House the next night. As much as I wanted to stay at home with Daddy and everyone else, ever since Nina and I had made up, I had a horrible feeling that I had to come home to Anubis House.

That's what I did. I bid my goodbyes to my family and took a taxi to the school, thinking about mine and Nina's argument; how did it start?

I remembered a few weeks ago, Sibuna was having a meeting when I heard Nina's voice in my head (and I mean literally.)

That night, I got a dream. And what I got, I certainly wasn't expecting. I learned so many things and Nina confirmed and denied information that we received. I learned things that even Mara and Alfie didn't know. The only good thing that came out of that dream was that I made Patricia mad.

Oh, how I love making my partner in crime furious!

* * *

><p><strong>AN - I just realized how long the Author's Note in the beginning was. Sorry not sorry.  
><strong>

**Also, TeenNick is showing Season 2 tonight! I don't know what to feel, but hey, it's better than not watching House of Anubis for another 10 months. "So far, so Sibuna." :3**

**Um...so...I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you have a sparkling day? R&R? The next chapter will be up next week (Yes, I'm doing the Monday's again.)  
>~Julianna...this is really awkward. I apologize. I'm just an awkward person.<strong>


	35. Amber Steals a Cat

**A/N - **You guys do realize that if you didn't want Amber and Nina to make up, they'd still be fighting until the last chapter, right...? No? Oh look, there's a corner. I'll go stand in it.

This chapter is actually kind of short, compared to the last couple of chapters...I tried my best to make it longer, but I think we're going to near the end sometime soon. Even though Don't Be Afraid is going to have more than 55 chapters, the pace is going to be a lot quicker. And to everyone who wishes Nina was back: so do I. Unfortunately, things take time. (But like I said, the pace is going to be a tad quicker than it was before, because it's not chapter 15 anymore.)

I have about 9 PM's to get back to, so wish me luck that my internet buddies aren't about to rip my heads off... (I know you guys sent them, and don't get me wrong I LOVE talking to you, but laziness and my busy writing schedule get in the way..)

I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you have a sparkling day!~

* * *

><p><strong>Shadowland  Timeless / Amber's Dream**

"Now that we're not fighting anymore," I began, once I gained my footing after my rough landing in Shadowland, "Can you explain to me one thing?"

"Sure," Nina told me, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Nina had called me for a dream only a few minutes ago; if we hadn't made up in the stables, I'd probably be screaming my head off at her. "What do you want to ask?"

"I lot of things," I admitted, playing with my fingers. I didn't dare look up, but I muttered, "Why were so upset in my last dream when you told me that Eddie was a spy? How do you even know him? He's only been in the UK for like five seconds..."

She sighed, breathing out a huge breath of air. "I was upset because Eddie comes here every day. At first, I just thought he wanted to visit, but then I learned he was residing at Anubis House to learn about you all and he reports back to Shadowland every night. I trusted him, and he..." she couldn't continue.

"But how did he get in?" I questioned, moving closer to Nina. I was horrible at comforting people; I didn't even try to help Nina because I knew I'd just make things worse than they already were.

Nina pointed to the other end of the staircase and said, "You see the fog over there?" I nodded. "That's where he gets in. I don't know where the fog leads to, and Eddie won't tell me either. I can't get through it because I was cursed.."

"Cursed?" My eyes widened as I processed what she was saying. Nina gave a weak laugh and assured me, "It's nothing bad. If you want more details, ask Mara or Alfie. They're the Seekers; they'd know."

Just when I wanted to spend more time with my boyfriend, he had to find out he was a Seeker. After that amazing discovery, he hadn't spent a nanosecond away from Mara's side. I knew they were just friends; Mara had Jerome and Alfie had me - but all I wanted was a person to talk to, and Nina wasn't there.

"Well, I'll try to talk to Alfie," I muttered bitterly, but I wasn't entirely sure if she heard that. Nina was staring off into the distance, her gaze aimed on the fog that rested at the bottom of the staircase. I asked her, "What are you looking at?" and she jumped, startled.

"Nothing," she answered, that same faraway gaze making its way back on her face. "I was just thinking about the fog - it's a portal, obviously. It's the way in and out of here. Eddie can come in and out as he pleases, because he wasn't cursed, but after the whole Mara shenanigan I think the Man in Red cursed you all too..." she mused.

"Is that how we're going to rescue you?" I asked, and Nina licked her teeth. I could tell she was contemplating telling me; she'd think I was going to call her selfish. I was proven wrong by my prediction, obviously, as she spoke.

"I think so," she confirmed. "I'm not totally sure, though. I don't know everything about it. I've barely been down that staircase..."

"Speaking of Eddie and coming into Shadowland," I called, trying to distract Nina from walking down the staircase and inspecting the fog. I wanted her to stay down on the ground with me, near the lake. We were having a nice conversation and I didn't want anything to ruin it. "Has he come in since Mara left?"

Nina shook her head, and the look of sadness returned. I cursed myself and my ability to make her feel upset; that was the last thing I wanted to do since we made up. I blinked, contemplating whether I should ask her the next thing I had on my mind, and soon enough I told myself to stop being a chicken and ask her.

So I did. "Nina, why did you break up with Fabian? You and him were such a cute couple and I know you love him...why did you break up with him? He's heartbroken..."

She didn't say anything at first. I knew she wouldn't want to talk about it, but I was the Love Guru; I could get any couple together, knew when someone was in love, and could even break a couple up if I wanted to. The only couple I ever had trouble with was Mick and Mara.

I didn't think she was going to say anything. I didn't expect her to; after all, she loved Fabian more than anything. But much to my surprise, she told me, "All I can tell you is that it wasn't my choice."

I was about to ask her more, but then she said, "Okay, Amber. I think it's time to end the dream, now. I'm glad we made up."

"I am, too!" I rushed the words out of my mouth so quickly that I probably sounded stupid.

My protests were useless because Nina continued, "Tell Mick I told him to practice. I hope I can see you again soon." Two seconds later, the world started spinning and I knew the dream was ending.

**xXx**

**Fabian  
>Saturday, November 12th 2011 7:00 AM<strong>

"Confession time," I began, watching everyone who resided in Anubis House trudge into the common room. I had woken every one of them bright and early to discuss some things that were on my mind.

Everyone in that room was hiding a secret, and none of them would admit to it. I myself even had a secret, and I was itching to get it off my chest. The rest of Anubis House would have to confess too.

"What do you mean, Fabian?" Mara complained, yawning. As everyone else took a seat on one of the couches, she sat on Jerome's lap. Jerome, obviously, was enjoying the experience; Mara hadn't payed him any attention since she had left Shadowland and discovered that Alfie was a Seeker.

"What I mean is that everyone sitting around you is hiding a secret, and no one will say what their secret is," I stated ominously, moving my eyes from one person to the other. My gaze eventually landed on Amber, who wouldn't dare meet my eyes. She was staring down at her hands, playing with her fingers, just like she always does when she's nervous.

"One of those people is Amber," I barked, and every eye in the room moved to her. "We should start with her. Amber, would you be so kind as to tell us what your secret is?"

She let out a long breath of air before looking up to meet everyone's gazes. Alfie, who was sitting next to her, had his eyes widened, as if he could've never imagined his girlfriend keeping secrets. Finally, after a long, painful silence, Amber Millington finally confessed. "Fine. You know how no one's gotten a dream since Nina broke up with Fabian?" I cringed at that statement, but Amber continued.

"Well, that's not true. I've had three dreams in the last two days. And I learned something. I learned something really horrible."

It's not like I was surprised; I knew Amber had gotten a dream on Wednesday night, even though she'd never admit to it. Since no one had gotten a dream yesterday or the day before, Amber was obviously the next candidate. (Mara would be the third, but that's unnecessary information.)

Amber locked eyes with her partner, and it seemed like they were having an internal conversation. After seconds of silence and no movement, Patricia's eyes widened. Amber dismissed the action, turned to scan the room, and announced, "I learned that Eddie Miller is a spy. That he lives in Anubis House solely to find information on us and bring it back to Shadowland every night. Nina was devastated at his betrayal," she said nonchalantly, as if she wasn't fazed by the information at all.

So while everyone who was in Anubis House swarmed Amber with whispers and murmurs, I sat back in my chair and smiled to myself. I knew this information; Nina had told me right before she had broken up with me.

I was still confused about it, though; how could Eddie have gotten into Shadowland when no one else can? Why can he come in but Nina can't come out? Why would he ever agree to work with the Man in Red? And who was in the Man in Red in the first place? There were so many questions yet to be answered, and I knew that this search for Nina wasn't going to end anytime soon.

Amber shushed every whisper and murmur, and soon enough, everyone who sat in the common room was quiet. Amber continued, "That's my secret. Now it's someone elses turn. How about you, Fabian?"

_Fuck it. I'll just admit to it. _"Fine. I lost the Dream Log yesterday."

Much to my surprise, Sibuna didn't burst out in flames like I thought they would. Instead, everyone was deadly quiet. Not a sound uttered out of their mouths. That is, until, Amber came into the picture. She screamed, "HOW COULD YOU LOSE THE DREAM LOG?"

I held my hands up in surrender. Even though it was partially my fault, it also wasn't. I admit like 88% of it was my fault but the other 12% of it was Mrs. Fitzgerald's. While Amber was sending me a glare that could have killed a tiger, I started to explain. "I was writing an entry in Mrs. Fitzgerald's class yesterday when she caught me writing. After I had to embarrass myself by speaking the entry to the class, she took it from me. It's now currently in her desk drawer and I don't think I'll ever get it back. It's probably in the clutches of Mr. Sweet at this very second."

"That's great," Amber barked. "That's just great. I was planning to write an entry today because of the dream I has last night, but now I can't, because of you. How on Earth are we going to get it back?"

"I don't know," I muttered, sarcasm dripping in my voice. "How about you stop yelling at me and we can brainstorm ideas?" I addressed everyone else in the common room after that and said, "Does anyone else have a secret they'd like to tell?"

The room was silent. Everyone was hiding a secret, but Amber and I had some issues to deal with, so I told everyone that they could go. Alfie, of course, stayed behind to be with Amber. Amber, happy to have some attention from her boyfriend, laced her fingers through his.

It made me think; why did Nina break up with me? There had to be a reason. She just spit it out out of nowhere. She even told me she loved me like two seconds before she broke up with me.

Even though I'd never admit it, she broke my heart. I had a lingering suspicion that she didn't want to break up with me but she was still breaking my heart. I never wanted us to break up. I thought that were doing well for a couple in two different dimensions. Jerome made fun of me because of how upset I was, but I wasn't lying in my dream; I really did love Nina. My heart was shattering just thinking about that dream.

It made me a tad jealous to see Alfie and Amber acting so lovey-dovey. They weren't like that; Nina breaking up with me wasn't like _her_.

"Fabian," Alfie said, breaking my train of thought, "what are we going to do with this information? First we find out that Eddie's a spy, and now we lost the Dream Log?"

"Well, first things first," I said guiltily, scratching the back of my head. "We need to find a way to get that Dream Log back."

Together, three people sitting around in the common room in the morning light of a Saturday morning, we made a plan.

**xXx**

**12:00 PM**

Who knew where the others were? I certainly didn't; but it's not like I cared. With Amber in my party of three, we took longer than necessary to get ready. Alfie and I stood around waiting for a good fifteen minutes while Amber tried to find the best pair of black heels.

When she finally came bounding down the stairs, Alfie couldn't hold in his chuckles. Amber placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him; she obviously felt offended because she put in a lot of effort into her outfit. But I copied Alfie and started laughing too.

She was dressed in all black. Black top, black pants, even black heels. Offended, Amber threw her hands up in the air and exclaimed, "I'm supposed to be a Cat Burglar! If we're going to try to get the Dream Log back from the school then we have to blend in!"

"It's a Saturday, Ambs," Alfie told her, still trying but failing to hold in the laughs. "No one's going to be in the school. No one is going to see us. You didn't need to dress like a Cat Burglar!"

Amber huffed, rolled her eyes, then crossed her arms in protest. But when Alfie and I started to head out of Anubis House for the school, Amber followed us, trailing behind a few paces. I guessed she didn't want to walk with us after we offended her.

Our plan was simple; since Alfie was the Seeker, he would try to find the Dream Log once we were in the History classroom. If Mrs. Fitzgerald was there, Amber would cause a distraction to lead her away. It was so simple that a monkey could do it. Unfortunately, the plan didn't prove to be very simple once we got to the school.

Alfie was predicting that the teachers wouldn't be there, considering it was the weekend. He proved dead wrong; a few cars were parked in front of the school. I could see Alfie cringe from the corner of my eye; he, too, knew that our plan was going wrong already.

"Okay," I said, before Amber or Alfie tried to abort the mission, "We'll just have to try to hide. We'll find the History classroom and get the Dream Log back before any of the teachers notice. Good enough?"

They both nodded. Even though I wasn't Patricia, I could hear Amber mutter under her breath, "I told you the Cat Burglar idea was a good one."

Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the doors and stepped into the stone hallways of the school. I held a finger over my lips to signal Amber and Alfie to be quiet, and as we tiptoed through the halls, for once, the two listened and remained silent.

The only sound echoing throughout the halls was our footsteps. For a while, it seemed like we would get the Dream Log back in our clutches in no time. We were two steps away from the History classroom when I heard whispers.

"Damnit," I muttered to myself. Patricia would have been extremely useful right then, but she wasn't with us. "Okay," was the only thing I told Amber and Alfie before I started creeping up toward the door where the whispers were coming from - Mr. Sweet's office.

The voices were muffled behind the door, so I couldn't place them as accurately as I would like, but I figured they were teachers voices - who else would be inside the school on a Saturday? (Except for three teenagers dressed in Cat Burglar's outfits trying to rescue a notebook from a new teacher.) I tried to listen, and I could catch snippets of their conversation:

"What are we going to do with this, Eric?"

"Nothing. The children are merely progressing at their own rate, Kathleen. They will find their friend soon enough."

"Soon enough isn't _fast_ enough! You know that _he_ is growing impatient...not to mention hungry."

"Do not mention _him_ in my office! I know very well what is happening, and I am trying my hardest to make ends meet for _him_. I brought our only hope to this school so you should be damn well grateful."

"Our 'only hope' isn't working as quick as he should be. Time is running out and we may lose students that attend the school. That is not acceptable, Eric. Would Jason Winkler want this to happen?"

"_Jason didn't want any part of this_! It is my fault that he is dead, Kathleen!"

"What we need for him is _vengeance!_"

"What we need for him is _time_, my dear. I realize that the clock is ticking, and I am working on making _him_ leave us alone, but that stupid girl in Shadowland is taking too long with the dreams."

"So tell her to hurry it up, then! If _he_ grows too hungry then he may take _her_ instead of the people he really needs. You know how devastated they would be if they find out they lost the person they've been looking for for almost a month."

"My son is working as fast as he can, and I am letting him take his time. Do not worry. He will perform his job and banish _him_ before he grows hungry. Everything will be sorted out in time."

"I can't believe you dragged us all into this mess. You'll have to sort this out yourself for now, Eric, because I have to go back to my flat. I will see you on Monday."

I could hear footsteps from inside the room coming towards the door, and I quickly took Amber and Alfie's arms and ran them around the corner. I was breathing heavily as I watched Mrs. Fitzgerald walk out of the school from around the corner.

So the two people in that room were Mrs. Fitzgerald and Mr. Sweet, and they were discussing Nina and the Man in Red...they were running out of time...Mr. Sweet's son was brought to this school to save everyone...Eddie.

Eddie Miller was Mr. Sweet's son. The one and only Eddie Miller, who resided in Anubis House, was a spy for the Man in Red, Nina's only friend as of late, and Mr. Sweet's son.

Oh, Lord, that was a lot to take in. I wasn't sure if Amber or Alfie heard anything, but since Alfie kept poking me and muttering, "What happened?" I presumed that they hadn't heard the two teacher's conversation. Ignoring the boy who was practically screaming in my ear, I checked to see if Mrs. Fitzgerald had left the school.

Sure enough, she had. I motioned for Alfie and Amber to follow me into the History classroom, and they obeyed. Silently, to make sure Sweetie didn't hear me, I closed the door slowly, making no slam. Once the door was closed and every sound was locked in with us, I released a deep breath of air.

"What was that?" Amber complained, panting. I really didn't feel like remembering what the teachers had said, so I ignored the blonde and advanced on the other person in the room.

"Alfie, do you know where the Dream Log is?" Alfie was the Seeker; he knew the answer to every question. He would know where the Dream Log was if I asked him. Sure enough, after a minute of watching Alfie's closed eyes, they shot open and Alfie was exclaiming, "It's in the drawer under the desk!"

"Great!" I praised him, and bolted over to Mrs. Fitzgerald's desk. The three of us, two of which were wearing normal clothing and one wearing all black, crouched down to the drawer on the bottom level of the desk. I tried to pry open the drawer, but it wouldn't budge. I didn't need Alfie to answer that question for me; I knew that it needed a key to be unlocked.

"Question: where's the key?" I asked another question, but a different voice answered for me before Alfie could.

"I have it right here with me."

The three of us turned our heads around to the now opened doorway. There stood a figure: a small, petite woman with auburn hair, blue eyes, and full lips. Kathleen Fitzgerald.

I could have sworn that I'd saw her leave the school. I winced as if I had been punched, and slowly pushed myself off of the floor. Amber and Alfie did the same; I thought I saw Amber hide behind her boyfriend's back.

"What on Earth are you all doing in my classroom?" the teacher growled, looking at us. "And why is that foolish girl dressed as a Cat Burglar?"

"I thought it was a good idea!" Amber cried, her voice muffled, as she buried her face in Alfie's shoulder.

"I, um...we were just trying to.."

"Can it, Mr. Rutter," Mrs. Fitzgerald barked, withholding an expression that was most unlike her. In her lessons, she was an outgoing and bubbly woman; now, it was the opposite. "I know perfectly well what you were trying to do, and you should know that I am not going to give you back your journal just yet. Now, if you would please step out of my classroom and make your way back to your house, that would be good."

With Amber's head still buried in Alfie's shoulder, the three of us ran out of Mrs. Fitzgerald's classroom and back home, all without the Dream Log. But our trip wasn't all useless; I learned some things about my roomate.

I was already making a plan to slaughter the boy in his sleep.

**xXx**

**Eddie  
>Saturday, November 12th, 2011 8:00 AM<strong>

What they didn't know was that I'd been listening to their conversation.

Not of my own free will, of course. For my work. The work that I dreaded going to everyday, the work that I only went to in the first place to see that Nina was still alive and well. I hadn't gone to Shadowland in a few days, because schoolwork had me on my toes. I guessed that the Man in Red had noticed my absence and in a fit of anger, told Nina the secret that both of us had vowed not to tell her.

That did it; I had to go back to Shadowland, and quick. I needed to apologize to Nina and make sure she knew that I wasn't coming back to Shadowland to hurt her, which would be difficult considering that she knew my secret.

Right after the blonde announced that I was a spy, I took off towards my room to pack a bag. But I was interrupted by something hanging on the door; a piece of paper.

A piece of paper that had writing on it. With a closer look, I deciphered the sloppy handwriting to say: _I know your secret. I'm out to get you. You won't last long in the House of Anubis._

Fear coursed through me. I had no idea who had planted this note on my door, but with a quick, swift movement, I tore the piece of paper off my door, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it under my bed. If Fabian or Mick saw that, I'd probably be slaughtered in my sleep.

I quickly packed everything in a spare backpack and ran out of Anubis House, that note still fresh in my mind. Who knew my secrets? There were so many people in that damn house that it could've been any of them. Unfortunately, I had a sneaking suspicion of how it was, and the realization didn't make me any happier.

When I was sure that there were no Patricia's to follow me this time, I took off sprinting towards the woods. I didn't care that it wasn't my normal time to visit Nina; I hadn't seen her in over four days. Luckily, with my eavesdropping, I heard that the Amber girl had a dream that Nina was in, so I knew she was still alive. I was just afraid that she had resorted to cutting again; if she had to breakup with Fabian (presumably her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend for that matter), I wasn't exactly looking forward to my visit.

Soon enough, I arrived at my destination. I opened the gray door, stepped into the blue light, and arrived in Shadowland.

I could name a lot of things I wasn't expecting that day. 1) I wasn't expecting to get a good grade on my dad's test. 2) I wasn't expecting the Anubis residents to learn my secrets that quickly. 3) And I certainly wasn't expecting Nina to come crashing into me as soon as I set foot in the damn place.

"Nina..." I choked, trying to pry the girl off of my neck, "I need to breathe..."

Yet, she didn't let go. I was now gasping for breath, trying to rip Nina off of my body, but she stayed put. I gasped, "Oh my God Nina if you don't let go in the next five seconds then you are going to kill me."

She pulled back after that, laughing to herself quietly. If the blonde, Amber, was here, she'd probably call Nina 'selfish' for not pulling back when I asked her to; that grudge was ridiculous. I honestly didn't mind that; I just didn't want my obituary to say "Suffocated by a sixteen-year-old girl who was hugging him".

I was surprised that she would actually come near me; I was thinking she'd avoid me at all costs and possibly even run away from me. She knew my secret; I didn't think she would trust me anymore. But since she didn't mention that I was a spy, I didn't bring it up either. I didn't want to talk about that with her anymore than she did.

"Why aren't you stabbing me?" I asked, chuckling under my breath. "I was gone for about four days with no contact with you at all. I kind of predicted you'd draw a knife through my chest or something."

Nina shrugged, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "I don't know," she admitted. "I just knew you'd come back. You always come back."

After I led her into the house, we sat down on the couch and just talked. I wasn't at all concerned with time; it was a Saturday afternoon. I had all day to spend with her. The Man in Red was there until noon, of course, but he didn't bother us once I gave him information.

That's when, to my horror, Nina brought the subject up to attention. "Eddie, why are you a spy for the Man in Red?"

I was preparing for that conversation, so I had a very well thought out explanation in my head beforehand. "I wasn't planning to be," I began, holding my hands up in surrender. "I was brought to the UK, drugged, and taken into Shadowland. Remember the first day we met? Yeah, my dad brought me here and then he explained what I had to do for 'him'. It wasn't my choice. I'm forced to. And as much as I wish I could quit, the Man in Red threatened my life and yours if I don't give him information about the Anubis residents. I'm trying my best to stay out of their business so I don't have anything to report, I promise you."

"I believe you," Nina said, making eye contact with me. I could see in her expression that she truly believed me; or at least, she wanted to.

For another couple of minutes, all we did was sit on the couch and talk. Talk about Anubis House, about America, about our families. Every day, we learned more about each other than the last. Nina was the best friend I'd ever had; and I knew she had other friends at Anubis House that she was trying to reach via dreams, but I knew that our friendship was special to her as well.

"Nina," I began, shifting around in my seat a little. "About those dreams that you give..."

"Yeah?" she asked, perking up a little. I was glad to see that she had a little bit of life left in her.

"How do you give them? I've been confused about the dreams ever since I set foot in this place...care to explain?"

She smiled, pushed herself off the couch, and held a hand out for me to take. "Well, even though it's only eleven in the morning, I'm going to try to give someone a dream. And if the Day Dream works, then I'm going to give another person a dream. Care to watch?"

"Hell to the yes," I agreed, grinning, and ran out of the house, following Nina into the torture chamber she now called "home".

**xXx**

* * *

><p><strong>AN - **Eh. Not the best cliffhanger I could come up with, but the next chapter has some Fabina in it - Thank GOD - and also supplies two dreams - I wasn't kidding when I said the pace was going to move faster! (I still can't believe I'm halfway through the 30's...)**  
><strong>

I need the readers to do this author a favor. I've made my decision; **Don't Be Afraid is going to have a sequel**. I have everything planned out; the only thing I'm having trouble with is the Title.

I'm using Taylor Swift's song, "The Last Time" as reference, so I'm either going to use a random title or a lyric from that song. I feel like the Title will be more symbolic if my readers chose it, hmm? I suppose choosing the Title would be easier if I said what the sequel will be about, right? I'll give you the rough draft of the summary I have:

**"Four years. That's how long it's been since Nina was rescued, since the dreams stopped, and since Nina Martin and Eddie Miller vanished off the face of the earth. Four long years later, the former Anubis residents find that Nina and Eddie have come back. While the group spends the summer in a Flat complex, they'll have to find out all about where Nina and Eddie were, while dealing with the struggles a group of 22 year olds can cause - it seems that the dreams have returned."**

You like it? The summary needs some editing, but it's the best I can come up with at the moment. Comment in the box below and tell me what you think ;)

Also, I think it's time to tell you where Shadowland is located; but I'm not going to tell you directly, of course! That would ruin all the fun! All I'm going to tell you is that the answer to that question is located in a chapter with an odd number. (i.e. chapter 17, chapter 33...) Have fun trying to find Shadowland! xD  
>~Julianna<p> 


	36. Down will come baby, cradle and all

**A/N - The things I do for this story.  
><strong>

**I write a chapter of Don't Be Afraid in less than 2 days, because somehow it takes me the majority of the week to write the next chapter of Lost & Found. DBA has been through so much more than L&F, though... **

**I have a question for you guys: what Harry Potter book was your favorite? I'm reading the series for the first time in my 14 years of life, and I'm currently up to The Goblet of Fire. Which, of the 7 books, was your favorite? **

**DISCLAIMER: Well, I changed my name to Nickelodeon, but I still don't own House of Anubis. I haven't heard from Jerome in two weeks, so I presume he's either dead, taken captive by a band of gypsies, or under arrest and is in trial right now. Hopefully, he's got the papers.  
>~Nickelodeon<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nina<br>Shadowland**

"You should go inside."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Eddie skipped back to the house, and peeked his head out from behind the window. I smiled at his actions, took a deep breath, and started to send Fabian a dream.

Well, a Day Dream, to be more precise. It was only noon, so Fabian and the others would be relaxing at home. I was aware of this new ability, and I had been itching to try it out. I had a plan, for who to send the dreams to, and I planned to administer it.

Soon enough, I stopped trying to bring Fabian to Shadowland. In a measly two seconds, Fabian landed unsteadily on his feet. I smiled at this; I was used to seeing that. It seemed that the Anubis kids still hadn't gotten used to the rough landing into here.

When Fabian realized where he was, his eyes widened and he started to shake his head in amazement. He seemed too shocked to speak. I could see that he was muttering something under his breath, but I couldn't quite catch what he was saying.

"Nina."

That's when I realized; he was calling for _me_. In this place, I was the only thing Fabian was sure of. He needed me to keep him balanced here.

With an expression of pure sadness and longing, I hid behind the tree. I didn't want Fabian to see me. As much as I wished I could, as much I wished I didn't have to break up with him - this wasn't the time. I was merely conducting an experiment. The experiment worked.

I felt like crying, but I wouldn't let myself. Now was not the time to cry. I'd look weak, like I wasn't strong enough to do a simple task of not talking to my ex-boyfriend.

All I wanted in the world was to hug him, tell him I didn't want to break up with him in the first place, and come home with him to be reunited with all my old friends in the House of Anubis and pretend like the past four weeks had never happened.

None of those things could come true.

Hesitantly, watching my first love scream my name, desperate to find closure, I ended the Day Dream. The experiment worked; the dreams could work at any time of the day. I held back my tears as I walked slowly back to the house.

I didn't even have to say anything. Eddie came jogging over to me as soon as I closed the door, enveloping me in a huge hug. We remained silent; I didn't think I had the right to speak right now. I didn't want to talk; I missed him that much.

"What the hell was that?" Eddie questioned, still holding me to him in the hug.

I took a deep breath, trying to find oxygen to speak. After a moment's silence, I said, "That, my friend, is called a Day Dream."

**xXx**

**Fabian  
>Saturday, November 12th, 2011 12:00 PM<strong>

I jolted up, taking in the surroundings around me. It didn't take me long; I knew I was in Patricia's room and just before I was knocked unconscious, we were having a Sibuna Meeting.

I wouldn't really call it a meeting; after all, all we were doing was complaining about how close Amber, Alfie and I were to getting the Dream Log back, before the new stupid teacher had to ruin it. Our conversations were cut short as soon as I fell off of Patricia's bed and my head hit the ground.

Everyone was crowding around me; it was a little awkward, to tell the truth.

"Fabian, are you okay?" Joy asked, holding out a hand to help me up. I took it gratefully and sat back down on the bed, rubbing my head, trying to soothe the bruise that was forming.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I dismissed everyone's worries. Amber heaved a great sigh of relief, but Patricia, already knowing what happened, looked like a volcano, ready to blow her top. I spoke before she could explode. "I think I just had a dream."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Patricia's face turning red with rage and jealousy. I tried to hide my smile as I continued, "At least, I think I had a dream. I was in Shadowland, but I didn't see Nina. I didn't even learn anything. All I saw was the front yard..."

"Maybe the scenery is a clue!" Mara piped, always trying to find something new. And, hey, maybe I should have listened to her; she was the Seeker, and she had been trapped in Shadowland for twenty-four hours.

I dismissed her theory with a wave of my hand. "Nah. There's no significance whatsoever to a forest, a lake, and a house."

Mara looked disappointed, but Alfie, always the joker, tried to cheer her up, even when he had his arm around Amber's shoulders. Jerome, obviously, seemed like _he_ wanted to be the one to cheer Mara up.

The room was silent after that. Things had been messed up ever since October 17th, so no one thought it was weird that I received a Dream in the middle of the day. It was still the same kind of Dream we got at night - no difference. The only thing that worried me was the fact that I didn't see Nina in the Dream, even if it was only thirty seconds long.

Since no one was speaking, Patricia considered that the perfect time to explode.

"ARGH!" she began, slamming her hands down on the sheets. "_I am so mad_! Amber and Fabian have been getting dreams since the 18th - _the second day of Nina's disappearance!_ I haven't even gotten _one!_ Not one dream! Nada! Zip! Nil! Zilch! Nothing! You know, I thought I was Nina's friend - why haven't I got a dream? _I'm her friend_! Sure, we had a rough start at first, with, you know, the controversy over Joy's disappearance and all, but I'm her friend _now_! I want a dream! I have no idea what the dreams mean because I haven't gotten one! ARGH!"

"Calm down, Patricia," Jerome advised. "None of us have gotten dreams, either."

"But you're not her _friend_!"

"...I saved her life on Halloween."

"But you're not her _friend_!"

"Mara spent twenty-four hours in Shadowland with Nina and she still hasn't gotten a dream."

"But she's not her _friend_!"

Jerome rolled his eyes, turning away from the fuming girl. Amber was laughing at her partner's meltdown, but in a flash, she looked like she just discovered the meaning of life. She jumped off the bed so fast that I don't even remember watching her move over to where Mick was sitting.

"Mick!" she cried. "Nina told me to tell you to practice, whatever that means. Yes - she told me that in the last _dream_ I had."

Patricia threw her hands up in the air and exclaimed, "ARGH!"

**xXx**

**Eddie  
>Shadowland<br>11:00 PM  
><strong>

"You eat like a cow."

Still chewing, I spat, "You'd be proud of that, if you won the Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2010 in Los Angeles."

After many minutes of coaxing Nina to eat something from the food I bought her with my dad's money, I gave up. I knew she'd eat something in her own time, so there was no point in wasting all that perfectly good food. I made myself a meatball sub, and I was happily inhaling the whole thing.

Nina laughed, and I felt relief course through me. I'd never live with myself if I let the girl I was born to protect get hurt; much less hurt herself. I hadn't learned that Nina had attempted suicide from the girl herself; no, I learned that from eavesdropping on the Anubis students.

I hadn't said anything about the cut on her arm, and neither did she, so I didn't think she wanted to talk about it. Judging by the length and depth of the scar, I wondered how she had survived - who saved her?

Nina licked her teeth, eying my sub. When I noticed her traveling eye, I hugged my food in an attempt to protect it. "Nuh uh, sister. You are not getting one bite of my food."

She pouted, but that didn't work on me, even if I was the Osirian, the Chosen One's born protector. Instead of giving her a bite of my sub, I pointed to the kitchen. With a groan, Nina pushed herself off of the couch and trudged to the kitchen. In a matter of seconds, she returned with small ham and cheese sandwich.

She took the tiniest of bites. I rolled my eyes with a smirk on her face, watching her take little bites one at a time.

Nina remained silent, so I broke the quiet with a question. "What's Fabian to you?"

She nearly choked on her food. I was too shocked to react, but eventually she swallowed the piece of ham and helped it travel down her throat. When the bits of slaughtered and cooked pig were safely down her esophagus, she looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, he _is_ my roommate," I commented, shrugging my shoulders, before continuing with, "I can always hear him talking about you. Granted, everyone in the house talks about you and the dreams nonstop, but it's always Fabian in particular who sounds the most concerned. I was just wondering if..."

"Yes, he's my boyfriend," she smiled, the thought of the boy with brown hair and blue eyes making her happy. But then a sudden thought overclouded her, and her smile turned into a frown. "Well, my ex-boyfriend..."

"Oh, damn. Who broke up with who?"

She sighed, starting to play with her fingers. "Well, I broke up with him, but not of my own free will. MIR had to threaten me. If he didn't threaten me and Fabian, I wouldn't have broken up with him. I love him."

I placed my arm around her back, and she sunk down to lay her head on my shoulders. "It's okay," I whispered, not knowing how to comfort a girl who was blackmailed to break up with her boyfriend. "I'm sure everything will work out in time."

"I hope so," she breathed, and I watched her close her eyes. I didn't think she was going to fall asleep this early in the day, but when I shook her and whispered her name, Nina didn't respond. I smirked and tried to fall asleep myself; it was a Saturday, so I didn't need to worry about homework or anything like that.

"Eddie?" Nina whispered, and I knew she had either woken up or never fallen asleep at all.

"Yeah?" I responded, trying to make our positions on the couch comfortable for both of us.

"Do you think I'll get out of here?" she asked, her expression giving nothing away. She continued, "I mean, I'm sick of being lost. I want them to find me. But I can't do that if I don't know anything new. How long do you think it'll take? Will I be trapped in here for years?"

"No, I don't think so," I told her, tightening my grip around her. "I've only been with the Anubis students for a little while, but from eavesdropping on their conversations, I know they really want to find you. They'll do anything to get you back in Anubis House safe and sound. Trust me, you won't be in this place much longer."

She blinked, a look of sadness making its way across her face. "I hope you're right," she murmured. I knew there was nothing I could do to help her; except spy on everyone in Anubis House, only to keep her alive.

"I'm always right," I said to no one in particular. I kissed the top of her head, and then whispered in her ear, "Don't worry. You'll see Fabian again and make up with him. I know you will. He really loves you, Nines."

She smiled. "I know."

"How about you try to get some sleep?" I suggested. "You don't have to send a dream for another ten hours, and I know you don't get enough sleep, so now would be the perfect time."

She shrugged, but she tried to move around to make herself more comfortable. "I'm not really tired. I've gotten used to the new sleeping schedule, so a nap would probably mess me up."

"Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree tops..." I sang, joking around. "When the wind blows, the cradle will rock...when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all."

"My mom used to sing that to me when I was baby..." she muttered solemnly. I knew her parents were dead - she told me one day before. I tried a different nursery rhyme.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word; Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird won't sing, Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring turns brass, Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass. And if that looking glass gets broke, Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat don't pull, Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull. And if that cart and bull turn over, Papa's gonna buy you a dog named Rover. And if that dog named Rover won't bark, Papa's gonna buy you a horse and cart. And if that cart and horse fall down, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."

Nina's breathing was steady and rhythmic, so I figured the lullaby had put her to sleep. I laughed to myself, muttered, "You should be grateful. I just sang you to sleep." But the didn't respond, so I left her to that. "Sweet dreams," I sang, and closed my eyes too.

I didn't know how long it was, but soon enough, I heard footsteps coming from the other room. I opened my eyes the slightest bit, and I saw MIR coming in through the doorway from the kitchen.

"_Who brought all this food_?" he boomed, spitting in my face.

I wiped the spit off of my forehead, checked to see if Nina woke up from his screams (Which, apparently, she did not), and addressed MIR, in his new human avatar, in front of me.

"I did," I responded confidently. "I wasn't going to let Nina starve, unlike you, an uncaring and selfish bastard."

He released a sickening smile, and cocked his eyebrow. The new human avatar had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He almost looked exactly like...Fabian. "Well, boy, I want you to dispose of all the food as soon as I leave, or there will be consequences. Now, what information do you have for me today?"

I groaned, leaning against the back of the couch, my arm still around Nina's shoulders. She was still breathing steadily, her eyes closed, so I presumed she was still asleep. Quietly, in not more than a whisper, I told the man, "They know I'm a spy."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously frustrated and annoyed. After a moment's silence, he started to scream his lungs out. "_HOW COULD YOU LET THEM KNOW YOU'RE A SPY?_ _You're WORTHLESS, Miller! WORTHLESS!"_

_"Shut up!"_ I returned. "Stop screaming! It took me like fifteen years to get Nina to go to sleep."

He laughed, and that was when I fully understood why Nina hated his laugh. It was cruel, sick, and disgusting. The laugh would be permanently etched in my mind forever. He calmed down for just a moment, and simply told me, "I'm leaving in one minute. When I come back tomorrow, the food better be gone, or you and the girl sleeping next to you will pay the price."

I rolled my eyes, watching him walk out. I wanted to call out to him, but I didn't want to call him "The Man in Red" forever. So I whistled to catch his attention, and he turned around, looking almost exactly like Nina's ex-boyfriend.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to hide my tremble. I wasn't scared.

He smiled, and I tried to hide my disgust for it. He was a disgusting man. I fully understood Nina's hatred for him now. "Well, this man's name is Paul."

"No, I mean, like, who are you _really_? The soul inside of you that took control of...Paul." I said, trying the name on my lips. It sounded better than the _Man in Red._

Paul didn't say anything; instead, he looked me dead in the eye, and his eye color changed from a light blue to a hazel, the same exact color as mine. He simply said, "You know who I am, Miller," and he slammed the door behind him.

Sighing, I carefully got up and searched for a blanket. It took a minute of searching, but eventually I made my way back to the main room, lifted up Nina's sleeping form, and placed her head back on my shoulder. I wrapped the blanket around both of us and I fell asleep with her.

The last thing I thought of was what the girl who gave dreams was dreaming about.

**xXx**

**5:00 AM**

I didn't realize that we had been talking for that long.

When I woke up, it was 5 AM. The Man in Red - wait, Paul - was bound to return any second. I carefully picked Nina, who was still sleeping, off of my shoulder and slowly placed her down on the couch, and I bounded off to the kitchen. It wasn't like I was going to get rid of the food; pigs would fly when I would do that. I was just going to hide it.

I gathered all the food in a table cloth, sprinted outside, and found a spot deep in the woods to hide the food. I made a mental note to remember where they were, and sprinted back towards the house.

That's when it hit me.

I'd been in Shadowland for almost twenty-four hours.

The others in Anubis House were bound to wonder where I was, since I didn't return for supper or lights out. If I missed breakfast, I was in for it.

But I couldn't leave Shadowland just like that, with no warning whatsoever. Nina would be all alone. This was my first time coming here in four days, and if I left again, that would devastate her.

I looked around for some sort of paper to write a note on; hopefully, she'd see the note before Paul (formerly MIR) could rip it up, and she'd know that I didn't abandon her. Eventually, after many minutes of searching, I found a piece of scrap paper and quickly scrawled a note in my sloppy handwriting:

_Hey. I'm sorry I had to leave so quickly, but if I don't return soon, they'd suspect. They know I'm a spy, but how I don't know. I promise I'll return either tonight or tomorrow morning. I promise.  
>~Eddie<em>

I smoothed the blanket over the sleeping girl, but even though I was in a rush, I didn't miss her constant shivers. It was November; no wonder she was cold. I made a mental note to myself to try to bring her a sweatshirt the next time I saw her... "Bingo," I muttered to myself, thinking of a great plan.

I quickly sprinted out of Shadowland, into the woods, and back towards Anubis House.

It didn't take long to reach my destination. Panting, I opened the door to Anubis House and crashed down on the couch in the common room. I didn't think anyone was inside, but I was proven wrong, as one of my roommates, Mick Campbell, asked, "Where did you come from?"

I knew he was a part of their Scooby Gang; he had something to do with Nina and everyone else. I cocked an eyebrow, slouching down on the couch, and repeating Mick's question back to him. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Practicing," he said simply.

"Practicing what, exactly?"

"That's none of your business."

"I'm your roommate, it _is_ my business."

"You may be my roommate, but you are not my friend."

Mick rolled his eyes, and left me in the common room, feeling bad that I ever left Nina in Shadowland in the first place.

**xXx**

**Mara  
>Sunday, November 13th, 2011 9:30 PM<br>**

The day passed rather quickly. Sibuna's concerns about where Eddie was died down once he returned the following morning. He was present for breakfast, lunch, and supper, and didn't disappear all day. Fabian, of course, kept a close eye on him, but we didn't see any reason to keep him under watch.

Eventually, the day drew to a close. 9 o'clock rolled around, and Victor was bound to come out of his office and give his famous "Pin-Drop" speech any minute.I was relaxing in the middle of one of the brown leather couches in the common room, Alfie on my right, and Jerome on my left. My boyfriend and I were casually playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe, while Alfie was destroying aliens on his handheld.

"Ugh!" I groaned, once I found out that I had lost our fifteenth game of Tic-Tac-Toe that night. "Come on! I so won that game!"

Jerome chuckled, pulling me in closer for a kiss. "Nah, Mars. I think I won that game fair and square."

"It doesn't even make a straight line!" I complained, laughing all the same. I pointed to the game we just finished, where Jerome had made a line of four X's that weren't in a row. "You cheater!"

He smirked, dramatically flipped his hair, and told me, "Then how about we play another game, eh?"

"Fine," I barked, "No cheating this time."

We were halfway through our sixteenth when Patricia dragged Jerome out of the seat by the ear and sat down next to me.

"I was about to win the game," I pouted, throwing the piece of paper down on the floor.

"Oh, boo hoo," The oh-so-sympathetic Patricia said.

She straightened herself up, grabbed Alfie's attention along with mine, and announced, just loud enough for us to hear, "You know how Eddie's always disappearing at night? Well, a few days ago, I followed him into the woods, where he goes every night. I didn't get to catch where he enters Shadowland, but I heard him talking with Nina - which, for some reason, I couldn't hear what Nina was saying." She rolled her eyes.

"The thing is," she continued, "Since you two are Seekers, I want you to follow him, and maybe learn where he goes. I lost my sight last time, but you won't lose anything. Could you pretty please with a cherry on top do that for me?" Patricia placed her hands together. Alfie looked like he wasn't cracking, but she was my friend.

"Sure, Patricia. Anything for you," I told her, and she beamed. Alfie looked like he wanted to complain, but I held up a finger to silence him. "We'll go and follow him. Both of us. What time does he leave?"

She shrugged, ignoring Alfie's complaints. "I think around ten thirty. You can hide behind the couch here; Victor won't even see you! All you have to do is make no noise as you follow him into the woods. Follow him until you watch him go into a building or something. Okay?"

**xXx**

**10:30 PM**

"I can't believe you dragged me into this."

"It's your fault for finding out that you were a Seeker."

"You pressured me into it!"

"Oh, shut up. Eddie should be coming any minute now and if you scare him away than I am going to hit you."

Alfie turned away, muttering to himself. I rolled my eyes, peeking my head above the couch only slightly to see if the boy had turned up yet - which, to no avail, he hadn't. Alfie and I continued to argue for another few minutes until Eddie finally had the decency to show his face.

I gestured for Alfie to follow me, and with him being a ninja, we didn't make a lot of sound as he walked silently out the front door, and started to follow him through the grounds. I was careful not to step on any loose twigs or leaves; the slightest sound would let Eddie know there was someone behind him.

Patricia had explained everything: how she had grown so frustrated with Eddie being so secretive that she followed him out into the woods one day; her plan had been going well, until she went blind. She knew that he was involved with Nina after their conversation and Patricia's interrogation of him in the market.

The story about how long it took to get Alfie to agree to come along with me would make a good joke at the dinner table in years to come. He was convinced that there were aliens and monsters residing in the woods, so Patricia and I had promptly spend a good ten minutes trying to convince him that there were no such things.

Still, he looked terrified as we neared the abyss of trees. Eddie never faltered once; it was like he had lived here forever, been going down that route as long as he could remember. Our constant attempts to stay with Eddie's pace and not make any noise was exhausting.

I could hear Alfie panting beside me, and my own breaths coming out short and jagged. Eddie was running now; it would take a lot of stamina to catch up with him.

"Mara...can we...take a break?" he pleaded, with the only breaths he still possessed. Alfie plopped down on the top of a rock, holding his chest, in an attempt to bring air back to his lungs. Alfie would never win a marathon if his life depended on it.

Luckily, my parents were Olympic champions. I knew how to keep a good pace, and I knew all about sports; the school had learned that in Mick's duel against me last year. I rolled my eyes, aiming my gaze at Alfie, leaving him there on the rock to collect his breath while I went off after Eddie again.

I was pretty sure I faltered once or twice, maybe stepping on a loose twig or branch, but the sounds didn't seem to faze Eddie at all. I could understand where Patricia was coming from; following a person was truly exhausting.

I wasn't sure how long we were walking after that. Alfie never caught up to me, so I presumed he was either 1) too lazy to run, 2) Killed by a psycho rapist who lurked in the woods at night, or 3) Didn't suck in enough air so he passed out from oxygen loss and was dying at this very moment. Let's pray that Option 1 was the correct answer.

The chase continued. My pace stayed consistent with Eddie's; my feet met the ground at the same time his did, even though I was a few paces behind him. My legs were growing tired; I was about to lay down and take a break myself, when I saw a clearing in the distance. Eddie was headed in that direction, so I presumed that was where he was going. I drew in a long breath of air before sprinting ahead to catch up with the boy.

Eventually, we arrived in front of the clearing. I saw what Eddie was looking at: an old warehouse, with a van parked out in front of it. I heard him take a long breath of air before running up to the warehouse and tossing the door open. I heard whispers and murmurs, but they were too far away for me to hear them accurately.

I turned myself away once I heard a smack, and a scream that sounded similar to Nina's. I recognized Eddie's yell, and that was when I knew it was time to go. Patricia had lured me into this; it was time to give her a strict lesson. I ran back to the rock that Alfie had collapsed on, and (Thank God) he was still awake and alive.

I didn't say anything; all I did was grab his wrist and drag him back towards the opening of the woods.

"What - Mara, what's going on?" He complained, jogging to keep up with my pace. "What's wrong? What did you see? And why aren't you answering my questions?"

"I saw something really bad," I told him, not even bothering to look back at my partner. "I don't even know what I saw, but I know it's bad. I think I just saw the entrance to Shadowland."

"You saw the entrance?" He gasped, trying to take in air while talking at the same time. I could tell he hadn't fully regained all the air back in his lungs yet.

"Yes," I stated simply, charging right ahead. The opening of the woods was straight ahead. Not much more longer to go. I released my grip on Alfie's wrist and he started to walk along beside me.

"Where did you see it? What did it look like?" he asked, two of the many questions that were lurking in our minds. I slowed down my pace the slightest bit, and even though he wasn't saying anything, I knew Alfie was grateful.

I answered his questions with, "I saw it in a clearing of some sort. It was an old warehouse with an old, rusted, locked door, and a red van parked in front of it -"

My description was cut short by Alfie, who interrupted with, "A warehouse?" he asked, and I nodded. I asked him what he meant, and he continued. "Patricia told me about that last year. After the play, Rufus Zeno kidnapped her for a few days, and he took her to a warehouse in a clearing. Do you think that it's the same warehouse Patricia was in?" I could faintly hear a touch of panic in Alfie's voice.

I couldn't afford to panic; but luckily, Alfie's theory would be proven wrong. I was in Shadowland once before; the inside of the house and the scenery around it looked nothing like the warehouse I just saw. The house in Shadowland was tall, white, and wide; the warehouse was dull, gray, and small. The clearing was dead and rotted, while the scenery in Shadowland was new and fresh. The two were nothing alike.

"Look, Alfie, I have no idea," I panted, trying to reach the exit as quick as I can. I didn't want to think about what I had just seen or heard. Nina's scream sounded too familiar, and Eddie's scream sounded frustrated and concerned. Those two things weren't making it any better.

"Mara, what are we going to do?" Alfie trembled, once I had finally stepped out of the woods and onto the school campus. We made our way back to Anubis House. Before I opened the door, I told Alfie, "There's nothing to worry about. I don't know the warehouse and Shadowland are linked, but we'll figure it out. There's no need to panic right now." I opened the door to Anubis House, already planning to go upstairs and collapse in my bed.

Unfortunately, someone was standing in the doorway. They had their hands planted on their hips, and a scowl plastered on their face, which was most unlike them.

Fabian Rutter was the person standing there, and he had questions for us.

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "Why would you make the entrance to Shadowland the warehouse, Julianna? That's WAY too overused and clich****é." Well, I have a perfectly good explanation for that - which will be explained in later chapters. There's TONS of plot twists coming up for you guys, and I know you're either going to love them or curse me out...  
><strong>

**Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hopefully I can finish chapter 8 of Lost & Found before Thursday, so I can get a head start on chapter 36; I only have two days a week to finish a chapter of Don't Be Afraid, so I try to do the best I can to make them presentable, only having 48 hours to make final edits and cuts. Chapter 36 will be posted on May 5th, so look out for that! **

**Review?**

**Have a sparkling day~  
>~Nickelodeon (;<strong>


	37. Surprise!

**A/N - I am aware that I missed two weeks. But there's this thing called Writer's Block, and it _sucks._ Big Time. I apologize for the wait, and even though I tried to make this the best it could be, I'm sorry if it sucks...Writer's Block, ugh...**

**I have good news, though! A few days ago, I finished the outline for Don't Be Afraid! I can officially say that it's going to have 64 chapters and will end on November 18th, 2013, if I don't miss a week from now on. The sequel is officially tilted, "Asking Too Much", and should be up sometime in December of this year. I've outlined 10 chapters for the sequel so far, but I'm predicting it'll have around 30-40 chapters. Good, hmm?**

**I'm like 83% sure that you all imagine Shadowland differently than the next person reading this story, but since I'm the author, I have the perfect visual of what it looks like! I put photographs/visuals up on my profile near the end; In the "Don't Be Afraid" category of the profile. It's a link, so you can see what everything really looks like! I'm putting new photos/visuals up in that album, so keep an eye out for more! Just if you're interested... (If you want the link, it's imgur / a / F3LWE#0. Just remove the spaces and add a .com to imgur, and you've got the album! **

**I'm also like 83% sure everyone who's reading this knows that this story takes place after season 1, but before season 2, right? I mention that the Cup of Ankh happened _last year_, so just in case you were confused, there's something to clear it all up (;  
><strong>

**DISCLAIMER: Since the name change didn't work, my name is now officially Julianna again. The security in Orlando wasn't happy with me when I said that I owned them. I was forced to say that no, I do not own House of Anubis. I learned the other day that Jerome is in Transylvania with the papers - I'm taking a flight there tomorrow. By May 30th, I shall own House of Anubis! :D **

* * *

><p><strong>Mara<br>Sunday, November 13th, 2011 11:00 PM**

"Mara. Alfie."

Silence.

"What are you doing?"

Neither of us said a word.

"Keeping quiet isn't going to work," Fabian stated ominously. "We're all working towards the same goal here. It's not going to hurt you by telling me where you were."

I shared a long look with Alfie; since we found out we were both Seekers, it always seemed that we knew what the other was thinking by instinct. Eddie told me a few days ago that he was literally born to protect Nina; it seemed like Alfie and I were born to be partners.

_We shouldn't tell him_, Alfie's expression was screaming. _No one is to be trusted._

We looked at Fabian at the same time, on the same page. I knew what lie Alfie was going to tell him, and I was going to go along with it. The only difficulty was getting Fabian to believe it.

"Just taking a walk," Alfie began, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His brown eyes met Fabian's blue ones. Fabian licked his lips, and I knew he was considering Alfie's statement.

"Why were you taking a walk on the campus after lights out?" Fabian asked, mimicking Alfie by placing his hands into his pockets as well.

I shrugged, knowing it was my turn to support our lie. It needed another source to be proved correct. "Alfie and I had Seeker business to deal with. None of your concern. Besides, he needed help with his science homework." The last part was true, to some extent; I mean, Alfie was scoring badly in some of the curriculums.

Fabian narrowed his eyes. He wasn't buying it; if I was in Fabian's position, though, I probably wouldn't believe me either. I sucked in a deep breath and grabbed Alfie's wrist. "Come along, Lewis. It's time to go back to sleep."

"Uh, not so fast, Mara," Fabian interrupted, pushing me back into the foyer. "You've got some explaining to do. Eddie's not back yet, and when I learned that you too were gone as well, I knew something must be going on."

He continued, "We know that Eddie is a traitor. A spy for the Man in Red. He's also in contact with Nina, but we don't know how he gets to Shadowland every night. You just came back from a 'walk', but I'm not stupid. I can read expressions. You were following Eddie, and you know where Eddie goes every night, but you won't say. And I'm not letting you go back to sleep until you tell me where to find my girlfriend."

Now, he had a tone of desperation. All he really wanted in the world was for Nina to come back to Anubis House safe and sound, and be reunited with his first love. He didn't want to give her up that quickly, even though Nina broke up with him in a previous dream.

We didn't discuss the Day Dream that much; after all, Fabian said he hadn't learned anything. Sure, we'd asked questions about why he had a dream in the middle of the day, but there wasn't much to talk about. We knew someone had a dream that following night, but no one would say who did.

His eyes were pleading; Fabian wasn't mad at all. He just wanted confirmation that Eddie was visiting her, so he knew that she was still alive and well. He cared about her more than anything, and just wanted her to be okay.

I sighed, and looked at Alfie for support. He slowly shook his head, and I knew that now wasn't the time to tell Fabian: at eleven o'clock at night in the foyer, with Victor looming above us; I wasn't kidding, because Victor had just made his way, and was now looking at us over the railing.

I wanted to tell Fabian about the warehouse. All he wanted was to know that Nina was safe, and I couldn't even tell him that. I met Fabian's eyes, expressing a silent apology. I was trapped in Shadowland for 24 hours a few days ago; I knew how terrible that place was. It was no wonder why Fabian was concerned. I was concerned about Nina as well. I wasn't confused at all; I wanted what Fabian did. To end all this and get Nina back where she belongs.

"What are you all doing down here?" Victor's voice boomed, finally coming down the stairs, looking from Fabian to Alfie to me and back to Fabian again. Fabian made up a quick lie about hearing footsteps, but Victor knew better; if an intruder ever dared to break in, Victor would tear them to shreds. Instead of telling us off, he ordered us to go bed. Alfie and Fabian made their way back to the boys' rooms, but I entered the girls' corridor, and hid behind the door; I had things to discuss with Alfie, and he knew that too.

When I peeked around the corner and saw that Victor was snoring in his office, I slowly tiptoed down the stairs and met Alfie in the common room. His dirty sock was laying on the couch's arm, and the stench from the sock was looming around the room. I held my nose to block out the horrid scent as I sat down across from him on the other couch.

Alfie quickly put his sock back on his foot and faced me. Victor took about fifteen minutes to fall asleep, so it was now eleven-thirty; everyone else was asleep, so we had to be quiet.

"What do you think that was about?" I whispered, moving over to the couch Alfie was sitting in, now that the stench was trapped in Alfie's sock. "I don't understand what the fuss about the warehouse was."

"It's not good," Alfie answered, whispering also. "I guess you could say it stores bad memories for the original Sibuna."

"But..." I mused, trying to think of what Alfie said while we were leaving the woods. It took me a moment, but then I remembered. "It's just a warehouse. Patricia was only gone for a few days last year, and she turned out fine. Who's Rufus Zeno, anyway?"

Alfie groaned, rolling his eyes towards me. "God, Mara, you're a Seeker. Don't you remember anything? When Jerome and Joy were eavesdropping on the Sibuna Meeting, Jerome dragged you upstairs. And Fabian told you what happened with the Cup of Ankh last year, and how Rufus Zeno was part of the society but he wanted the elixir to himself so he was shunned as a traitor but he came back and tried to get the Cup for himself so he used Patricia as a source to get Joy since Patricia was all 'OH MY GOD JOY'S MISSING AND IT'S ALL NINA'S FAULT' but when Joy didn't show up after the play Rufus kidnapped Patricia and took her to the warehouse where she stayed for like three days and in the end Fabian gave Rufus the fake elixir so he didn't have immortal life and Rufus died over the summer vacation."

Alfie took a deep breath, sucking in all the air that he lost during his fast explanation.

"Well," I stated, a confused expression crossing my face. "Okay? So why is the warehouse that bad?"

Alfie tilted his head to the side, silently telling me that I already knew the answer. But when I didn't respond, Alfie tolled his eyes and explained, "You said it yourself: the warehouse looks nothing like Shadowland. Of course, I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I've seen Amber's drawing, and that's some experienced shit. I don't know how Eddie gets to Shadowland through the warehouse, but there must be something suspicious."

"Should we check it out sometime soon?" I asked.

Alfie nodded. "Yeah. Definitely. Eddie isn't telling us something, and if no one else wants to take the opportunity to figure it out, we have to do it ourselves. Later this week, we'll check out the warehouse and wait for an explanation from Eddie, yeah?"

I nodded, moving over to the other side of the couch. After the chase for Eddie, I was pooped. Yawning, I rested my head on the arm of the couch and started to fall asleep. I heard Alfie mutter, "Goodnight", before he fell asleep too.

**xXx**

**Fabian  
>Monday, November 14th, 2011 9:00 AM<strong>

They weren't telling me something.

Of course, I knew they were following Eddie; he's gone as usual, but with the news that both the Seekers were gone at the same time; well, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. I just wasn't sure where they went, and Alfie and Mara both refused to tell me. It couldn't be _that_ bad, could it...?

After Victor came down and rushed us off to bed, I told myself I'd wait till the morning to interrogate them again. It was 11:00 PM then, and I was tired. Eddie never came back during the night, but surprisingly, he reappeared the next morning at breakfast. No one asked any questions, even though Eddie was the only one in Anubis House that wasn't in Sibuna.

Alfie and Mara were sitting next to each other at breakfast, and they were having a silent conversation. I didn't feel like listening in, but when I thought about it, Patricia might have been doing that job.

All I really wanted was to see Nina again. Not in a dream. In real life, in Anubis House, and with everyone. We'd pretend like the dreams never happened, and resume the rest of the year in a normal boarding school. I missed her more than anything, and it wasn't helping my mood everyday with the fact that she broke up with me in my last real dream.

Trudy was so convinced that we were going to be late that she practically shoved the food down our throats. When I'd had enough toast to last me a lifetime, I pushed myself out of the seat and walked to my room.

All I wanted was to grab my bag so I could be prepared for school, but instead I found something completely different: Eddie was rustling through my wardrobe, muttering to himself about finding something.

"What are you doing?" I questioned, quickly moving over to the dresser to interrogate him. He'd looked suspicious and untrustworthy since the first day he came here, but this was the final straw. He had no right to go looking through my stuff - no reason. He was not allowed. And if he found the place where I hid Nina's locket...

His hazel eyes widened when he heard me approaching him. He closed the door to my wardrobe, and faced me, holding something behind his back. I couldn't see what it was, but I didn't care at the moment. "Um...I'm just seeing what kind of clothes you wear. You have some really good taste in clothes, by the way," he said smoothly.

I scoffed, never taking my eyes off his face. If I caught the slightest hint that he was lying, that would be Strike Three. He was out. "Try telling that to Amber. She'd appreciate it much more than me. How about you stop looking through my stuff and mind your own business."

He licked his teeth before rushing out of our room, still holding something behind his back. I didn't know what it was, but I caught a sight of blue. I didn't think it was mine; why would he steal something from my wardrobe? I rolled my eyes, thinking of Eddie's actions, grabbed my bag, and walked out into the hallway again.

Soon enough, Trudy rushed us out the door, and we set off towards the school. Mara and Alfie were still avoiding me, so I struck up a conversation with Amber. I talked with her about Nina, and Amber admitted that she never really was mad at her at all. She was just tired of the dreams and the constant confusion with the clues, so she made it out like she was mad at her best friend.

When school started, I began to think of another plan to get the Dream Log back. Amber was the one to come up with the Cat Burglar idea, so I decided to come up with a plan myself. All throughout the day, I tried and tried again to come up with a good enough plan to sneak the Dream Log out of the school without Mrs. Fitzgerald noticing; I had all day, as Mrs. Fitzgerald's History class was the last class of the day for the Anubis students and the ones in Isis House.

The end of the school day came. Before I set foot in Mrs. Fitzgerald's class, the Seekers approached me.

I scowled at them, already knowing where this was going. I placed my hands in my pockets and waited for the boy and girl to explain themselves. It took a moment, but eventually Mara, being the soft-hearted girl she is, blurt out what she'd been holding in since last night.

"Fabian, we followed Eddie last night."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know. Where did you go that was so bad you had to keep it from_ me_?"

Alfie took a deep breath, shared a long look with Mara, and started to explain himself as we set foot into the History classroom. "Well, I wasn't with her at the time, but Mara says she saw the warehouse."

No explanation needed. Alfie and I locked eyes. We knew what each other was thinking; the same thing. _Not good._

The warehouse didn't store good memories for the Sibunas. Last year, Rufus Zeno had kidnapped Patricia after the play, and she was locked in there for a good three days. Amber and Nina had attempted to rescue her, but instead _they_ were locked in there and Patricia was condemned to sit in a van for the next couple of hours. Of course, I rescued Nina and Amber, but three of the five Anubis girls were stuck in there. This new information couldn't lead to anything good.

I nodded, and started to sit in my desk in the back of the classroom. Alfie and Mara sat in the next desk over, but we didn't stop out conversation. Alfie asked, "What are we going to do?

I shrugged, honestly having no idea. Mrs. Fitzgerald walked into the classroom, so we had to lower our voices. "Should we ask Eddie?"

"Are you kidding?" Mara whisper-shouted, overexaggerating every syllable. "Alfie and I had to be completely silent when we were following him, or else he'd hear us and yell at us. He doesn't want us to know what's going on with him. Do you think he knows that we know he's a spy?"

"Good morning, class!" Mrs. Fitzgerald exclaimed as the bell sounded. The class echoed her statement in a bored manor, turning to their notebooks for a new History lesson. I turned away from Mara and Alfie and tried to concentrate on the lesson.

Eddie, late as always, walked into the classroom. Mrs. Fitzgerald gave him a short lecture, but eventually sat in the seat next to mine. If she hadn't gone missing, Nina would have been sitting in that seat.

But it's not like it annoyed me or anything. I knew that Nina was okay. She was alive. If I didn't know that, if there was no news on her and she was presumed dead, I probably would have given Eddie a hard time and lashed out at him for sitting in her seat.

I wasn't that fond of the boy with these circumstances either, though. He was a liar and a traitor. I wasn't even sure what to do with him. I ignored him for most of the lesson, but the fact that he kept sneaking glances at what I was writing didn't make me feel better about trusting him.

Near the end of the lesson, Mrs. Fitzgerald assigned independent work; I was one of the first to finish, of course. I grabbed my work from the table and walked up to the teacher's desk to hand it in, just as she ordered. She thanked me, not even looking up from the book she was reading, but before I turned to go back to my desk, I whispered, "Um, Mrs. Fitzgerald, could I possibly have the Dream - I mean, could I have my journal back?"

That's when I realized.

The book she was reading was the Dream Log.

She was reading the last page. She had read through it all and was about to finish all we've written. Just because I was a pushover, the teachers learned everything in a few minutes that Sibuna had learned in four weeks. All the information was surrendered to them.

Because if Jason, the person we thought we could trust, turned out to be the person that kidnapped Nina, no one was to be trusted.

Mrs. Fitzgerald looked up from the Dream Log, and met my eyes. She released a sickening smirk, and after she sneered, "Sure, Mr. Rutter. I feel you've learned your lesson." She closed the notebook and handed it back to me. Trying hard not to scream, I hurried back to my seat and rubbed my temple. I tried to relieve the upcoming headache, but Eddie, sitting beside me, slid me a note.

I read it, and it said: **How do you know that I'm associated with Nina?**

I hesitated before answering it. Sure, I wanted to know what was going on with Nina, but I didn't know if I could trust Eddie. After a minute of debating, I gave in and wrote back:**_ Do you know about the dreams Nina gives us?_  
><strong>

I wanted to make sure Eddie was caught up in the business of the search before I explained further. I waited a few moments before the piece of paper returned to me with Eddie's handwriting: **Yes. **

It was short and simple, but it got to the point. I realized that my handwriting was more slanted than Eddie's, even though we both wrote in black pen. I decided to continue the conversation while Mrs. Fitzgerald graded papers. **_Amber told me that you were in contact with Nina. She said that Nina told her you were a spy in her last dream._**

Big mistake. Eddie's reply didn't come until the last few minutes before the school day ended. I supposed Eddie was taken aback that we knew so much, or that he was just ashamed of his name and job. His note back read: **Yeah, she's right. I am a spy. What do you want to ask me? I can't give too much away.**

I took a deep breath before thinking about what to write. I had hundreds upon thousands of questions; how could I fit all of them onto this small sheet of paper? I decided to start with the question that was bothering me the most: _**I haven't had a dream since Nina broke up with me on the 8th. Is she okay? I just need to know that she's okay.**_

My tension was relieved in great amounts when Eddie's reply was: **She's fine. Yeah, maybe a little sad, but she's fine. She misses you. God, Fabian, even *I* can tell she's so in love with you. Any other questions?**

I tried to hide my joy when I wrote my response. All I wanted to hear was that Nina was okay, but Eddie's extra few words made my day even better. By this time, though, the small sheet of paper was completely covered in black markings and there wasn't a lot of space left to write notes. I found a clean spot and wrote: _**Why are you telling me to ask you questions? Mara told me you had to cover her eyes when you left Shadowland so she wouldn't see where it was because if she knew, you'd get killed.**_

The day was ending; we only had a few minutes of class left. Eddie's reply was sloppy and rushed in a desperate attempt to finish before class was over. He wouldn't tell me anything if we had to physically speak to each other. **If MIR - now renamed Paul - knew that I gave Mara the information about where Shadowland was located, it wouldn't be good for everyone at Anubis House, much less Nina and I. He's evil, Fabian. Pure evil. I was moved to Liverpool and drugged, taken to Shadowland, and afterwards, the Man in Red - sorry, Paul - told me my job and the consequences if I ever let any information slip. You're lucky that I'm telling you all this now. It's all for Nina.**

My response was sloppy as well. _**Can you tell me more? Please, I'm desperate to end all this and get Nina back where sh****e belongs.**_

My heart sank when Eddie's reply was:** I'm sorry. I can't.**

I figured our conversation was over, but only twenty seconds before the bell rang, there was a blood-curling and heartbreaking scream issued from the hallway. The whole class, who was talking, suddenly went silent after hearing the scream. For a second, we did nothing, but I frantically grabbed the piece of paper and wrote: **_Please tell me that wasn't_ _Nina._**

When there were more screams and shouts, the class and Mrs. Fitzgerald decided the best idea would be to see what all the screams were about. Anubis House and Isis House crowded around all the other Houses, to see a girl being lifted onto a stretcher.

She wasn't breathing.

**xXx**

She died on Monday, November 14th, 2012.

The funeral was on Thursday, November 17th, 2012.

Exactly one month after Nina's disappearance.

The whole school was gathered around a gravestone, in the same exact graveyard where Sarah Frobisher-Smythe was buried. The priest was saying some words about her death, but I wasn't listening. A theory was glowing in my mind, and the funeral of the girl who died didn't matter to me at the moment.

Amber was openly sobbing. It was no wonder; Amber would cry if she had to flush down an insect. She didn't know her that well, but then again, neither did I. I didn't even know her name.

Laura Lynch, of Osiris House, died on November 14th. There was no reason to her death; or, at least, the teachers wouldn't release what caused her death. I was sure it was something to do with the search for Nina, but I'd never confront a teacher about that. School was cancelled the day after her death, but on Wednesday, the whole school was surrounded in whispers and murmurs about Laura Lynch.

Anubis House, along with the other three houses, crowded around the gravestone as the priest finished the ceremony and we left Laura Lynch in her final resting place. The other residents of Osiris House were sobbing into their shirts and tissues; they couldn't believe that their friend and classmate was dead, and there was no reason of death. But I knew.

Sibuna gathered in the common room after the funeral was over. Sure, everyone was sad, but I didn't know Laura Lynch that well. I barely even knew her name.

Eddie hadn't spoken to us since the day she died. None of us were sure why, but he avoided us like the plague and didn't want to take a step near us. Mara and Alfie seemed suspicious of this and was constantly talking amongst themselves, but I never butted in or asked questions. They had their Seeker business, and I had my own team to myself. The thing Mara and Alfie told me about following Eddie to the warehouse never left my head through the last few days, and I wished I could follow him myself, but Eddie never seemed to leave the House anymore.

"Is this the work of MIR?" Amber spat out her theory as soon as she sat down. Trudy wanted to talk to the father of the victim, and Victor was up in his office, so we had to be careful so he wouldn't hear us. After we learned that Jason was involved in Nina's kidnapping, we learned not to trust any of the teachers. Well, we didn't trust them in the first place, but Jason drew the hypothetical line.

After all, Mrs. Fitzgerald had read all of our entries in the Dream Log. I knew she was a part of what happened to Nina, and she most likely told Eric and every other teacher involved; Victor could count as well. I couldn't trust anyone except my housemates anymore.

"I have no idea," I admitted, sitting down on the couch across from the others. I scanned the amount of people in the common room, and I came up with...six people.

Patricia, Amber, Mick, Jerome, Joy, and myself were sitting in the common room. Nina was still in Shadowland, Eddie was nowhere to be seen, and Mara and Alfie were...

"Hey, where are Alfie and Mara?" I questioned, once Patricia had finished her secret conversation with Amber. Whispers indulged the room, theories and ideas about where the two Seekers were. I had seen them at the funeral, so I presumed they were walking home with us. Where could they have gone?

**xXx**

**Mara  
>Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:00 PM<strong>

Alfie and I came up with a plan on the way back to say nothing.

To give nothing away. We couldn't afford to. Even though Alfie desperately wanted to tell Fabian what we had found, we vowed not to tell anyone.

I didn't even tell Amber. I was still sleeping in Nina's bed at the moment; I couldn't stand sharing a room with two other people. When I walked into my room, Amber was writing an entry into the Dream Log, so I sat in Nina's bed and waited for her to finish. I was still a tad confused about what the Dream Log was and what the meaning of it was, but she handed me the Log a few minutes later and I read her entry.

_**Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:32 PM, Amber**_**_  
><em>**_I've made a new improvement to the system of Dream Logging.  
><em>_Okay, to anyone reading this/anyone writing an entry, you have to write your name after the date. There are ten people in Sibuna now; it can get confusing about who's writing what entry, especially because boys handwriting all looks the same.  
>I don't even care that Fabian and I are the only two people to write entries so far. It's neater and looks more professional.<br>Anyway, onto the entry.  
>I, Amber Millington, am writing this entry many, many days late, because the oh-so-smart Fabian Rutter got caught by Kathleen Fitzgerald and got the Dream Log taken away. So forgive me if I leave a few details out, because I should have written this entry as soon as I had the dreams.<br>I had a few dreams in the last couple of days. I learned a lot of new things - that Eddie Miller is a spy for MIR, Nina had to break up with Fabian by force, and that people can enter Shadowland through a "fog". Nina can't go through the "fog", because she was cursed and Eddie wasn't.  
>I made up with her a few days ago, at the stables. I was so sick of fighting with my best friend that I gave up my act of thinking she was selfish and now we're friendly again.<br>A few days ago, though, a girl from our school died. Her name was Elizabeth Canning, and she lived in Osiris House. Yeah, it was sad, and I'm sorry she had to go at the fingertips of a cruel person, but I have a feeling it leads up to something in the search. All I really want is this whole thing to be over with and Nina to come back to Anubis House, where we'd pretend like nothing ever happened.  
>Because if I have to admit anything in my lifetime, I miss her. I miss her so much right now.<br>-Amber_

"You should write an entry, Mara," Amber brainstormed once I'd finished her entry and closed the notebook.

I cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I haven't got any dreams so far. It's just been you and Fabian. I don't need to write an entry."

"Uh, yes you do," Amber said, like the answer was obvious to everyone, while I didn't have the slightest idea what she meant. "Remember all those days ago when you were taken to Shadowland? You never told us what really happened. Now's your chance to spill your heart out. Take it.

I rolled my eyes, but opened the notebook to the next clean page and began my entry, in the neatest handwriting between Amber and Fabian.

_**Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:42 PM, Mara  
><strong>Hello, this is Mara Jaffray.  
>Amber made me write this. I've never written an entry in the Dream Log before. But Amber's right, though; my contribution would be useful.<br>A few days ago, I was kidnapped by the Man in Red. He took me from the side of the road and I was taken to Shadowland. No one except Nina and Eddie know what really happened in the 24 hours I was in there, so I figured I'd tell the notebook my whole story.  
>Well, you know how I was taken: from the side of the road. The same exact way Nina was taken. MIR took me to Shadowland, and knocked me unconcious. When I awoke, I found I was chained to the wall in Nina's room like a rabid animal. At first, I was too shocked, too scared, too fearful for my life to comprehend anything. So I cried.<br>I cried until Nina calmed me down. She assured me that I'd be alright, and after that MIR came in to check on his new prisoner. He threatened both of us, and even though the threats terrified me, Nina didn't seem to be fazed by them. After that, the person I least expected to walk in did.  
>Eddie Miller. Sibuna knows now that he's a spy, but when I was kidnapped, I was still a new recruit. I didn't know or believe anything they were telling me. Eddie wasn't dangerous though. He gave Nina and I food to eat, and even though Nina didn't really eat her food, I was starving.<br>I think I'm the only person in Sibuna that really knows how Nina and Eddie's friendship formed, but it's too complicated, so I won't write it now. Nina was upset when Eddie had to leave again, so we talked a bit before we fell asleep.  
>The next day, Nina and I hung out for a while, doing nothing. She gave me a tour of Shadowland, but that was it. After schoo, Eddie came back, and I figured out how to leave. Eddie and Nina helped me get out, but Nina couldn't leave, since she was cursed and I wasn't; Sibuna knows what happened after that.<br>I think that's it. My experience was terrifying and scarring, but it's over now. Even though Alfie and I are Seekers, I don't think we're going to be involved much. I don't think I'll be holding this Dream Log more than once._

"What did you write?" Amber asked curiously, once I had finished writing. I quickly shooed her away and told her to go to sleep; I was exhausted. Amber was a pit pissed that I had commanded her to go to sleep, but eventually I heard the soft rhythm of her breathing and I knew she was sleeping.

I didn't stay up much longer than her, because I was so tired myself. I wasn't expecting a dream that night, because Fabian and Amber had been getting them steadily.

Well, there's a first time for everything, right?

**xXx**

Fabian and Amber weren't kidding when they described the rough landing into Shadowland.

I felt like I was falling from the damn Empire State Building. I supposed it was because I was being brought to a whole different dimension, but I fell onto the ground so hard I swear to God I broke my ankle.

Pain shot right through it, and I screamed out. I stumbled down into a sitting position and bit my lip to keep from yelling again. I wasn't sure if MIR, who was renamed Paul by Eddie, was roaming around. I knew Nina had to be here, since she was the one that had given me a dream. The pain was screaming in my ear as I inspected my ankle, 99% sure that it was broken. I wished I had Jerome with me; he could heal the broken bone in the snap of a finger.

The headache was already starting to form when Nina came running over. "Are you alright?" she cried, kneeling down to inspect my ankle along with me.

I pushed her away and took in a deep breath of air before I spoke. "Yeah," I breathed, leaning over to caress my ankle to relieve some of the pain. "Fine. Just a little break. Don't worry, I've broken plenty of bones before. My arm, my wrist, my leg, my hand..." I attempted to assure her, counting off how many bones I'd broken since I was born on my fingers.

"God, I'm so sorry," she muttered, moving her position around a bit so she was facing me. "I hate giving dreams to new people because they don't know what's coming. It's horrible," she told me, laughing a bit.

I thought it was strange, how strong she was acting. Today marked one month since Nina was kidnapped. I could never handle the type of abuse and pain she went through; if I was in her position, the only person I would send dreams to would be Jerome and I would ask him to heal me and carry me away every single time.

"How many people have you sent dreams to?" I asked, moving my ankle into a position where I would be in less pain than it was already in.

Nina took a deep breath and said, "You're the third person. I sent dreams to Fabian first, then Amber, even though there was that time we were fighting so I mostly sent dreams to Fabian but then I broke up with Fabian...so I sent you a dream!" she exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood and make me forget about my broken ankle. "I figured you'd be okay with it, since you spent a while in Shadowland a week ago."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," I groaned, pain still shooting through my ankle. I ignored the pain and said to Nina, "No, it's fine," when I saw she was getting up to get an ice pack. "I'm fine with it. So...what normally happens in a dream?"

"Well, I would call a person from Anubis House here, you for instance, and then I would tell you anything new I learned in the past day or two. And the cycle repeats..." she sighed, and smiled at me. "But you're special. You don't get a clue today."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "What?" I questioned, "Did you just want to try sending a dream to a new person?"

She chuckled, and shook her head slightly. "Nah. I just thought we could discuss something that's been bothering me since you left here. When I was sending you off, you mentioned something about me being cursed and that was why I couldn't leave."

I nodded, wincing when the pain shot through once again. "Yeah. I'm a Seeker, so I can know the answer to every question, but somehow I can't figure out how to release the curse, or who sent it. And because I'm the Seeker I can know _why_ I can't know the answer to the question at hand, but I still can't know the answer to the original question. I can't know it because the person who kept the answer doesn't want people to know. Is that confusing?"_  
><em>

When Nina nodded, I attempted to explain again. "Look, the Man in Red -"

I was interrupted by Nina. "Eddie renamed him Paul," she laughed, but when she noticed my look of confusion, her eyes widened and she said, "Sorry. Carry on."

"So, Paul, took you from the side of the road on October 17th, exactly one month ago, right? He was the one that took you to Shadowland. I'm presuming you're the first person that's been here, so he administered the curse on you so you couldn't leave. When he took me, it was act of impatience, as you were taking too long. He didn't truly need me, so he didn't put the curse on me. He doesn't _want_ me to know about some of these things, so I can't know, because he doesn't _want_ me to know."

"Okay," she murmured, letting the new information sink in. I understood; it was a lot to take in in one night. "So how do we get rid of the curse?"

I shook my head, honestly having no idea. "I guess we'll have to find that out for ourselves. Hopefully, Eddie will admit to what he's doing so he can help us, instead of working against us. He'd be a huge help. Hey, has he come in yet?"

She shook her head. "Not since the other day, no."

"Wait!" I exclaimed, when her words were made into a sentence in my head. "Eddie hasn't come here in a _couple of days_?" Nina nodded sadly, and before she could change the subject, I continued, "That's weird. Have you been alright? You haven't . . . you know . . . tried to take away . . . yourself?"

She met my eyes, and I knew she knew what I was talking about. During the 24-hour period I was in Shadowland, I saw Nina's cut and knew she tried to commit suicide. I didn't know why she had done it, since she didn't want me to know, but I wanted to know if she was okay. I was afraid, since Eddie was the only person in the world to visit her and if he hadn't visited, she wanted to leave. Permanently.

She shook her head the slightest bit, but in that tiny movement, my worries had been relieved. I would be devastated if she had died; I had spent a while day with her and learned more about her in one day than I had in the whole year before. Nina took a deep breath and stood up before she spoke.

"Well, Mara, I'm afraid it's time to go. I'll think about the aspect of the curse, and I hope you will too. It was nice speaking with you again, and I hope I can see you again soon."

Before I could protest, the whole world starting spinning.

**xXx**

When I woke up, the first thing I did was grab the Dream Log from the side of the bed.

**_Friday, November 18th, 2011 5:00 AM, Mara_**_  
>Nevermind. I think I WILL be using this a lot.<br>-Mara_

**xXx**

**Alfie  
><strong>**Friday, November 18th, 2011 7:00 AM**

One thing I wasn't expecting?

To wake up the next morning to the sight of Mara Jaffray crying on the side of her boyfriend's bed.

Jerome opened his eyes, only to see the same thing I did. His eyes widened, he grabbed the skinny girl off of the floor and carried her over to his bed. Mara grabbed the pillow and cried into it. But because I was Mara's partner-in-crime, I knew she wasn't crying out of sadness or fear.

She was crying out of pain. Somehow, on her way down here, or some time before she had come in here, she had hurt a part of her body and the first thing she thought of was to come to Jerome. Which makes sense: he is the _Healer_.

Jerome and I shared a long, confused look, before he turned to the crying girl and tried to soothe her. When Mara didn't stop crying and Jerome looked to me for help, I made a movement of breaking a bone, and Jerome understood. He moved Mara so she was lying on her back without holding anything, and asked, very carefully, "Mara, what hurts?"

"Ankle," she cried, breathing in heavily. She was going to try to say more, but with the pain clouding her judgement, she decided not to. Jerome elevated her ankle, placed his palm over it, and waited a few seconds, before Mara cried out in relief.

"Oh, thank you, Jerome," her expression gave off pure relief and release from pain. She hugged her boyfriend and Jerome, still hopelessly confused, looked at me with such a confused expression it was laughable.

"Okay..." he muttered to himself, before carefully pushing Mara down on the bed. "Mars, can you walk now? And, you know, you could thank me for healing you..."

Mara released a weak laugh, and pushed herself up. I caught Mara's gaze, and since we were Seekers, we instantly knew what we were thinking. It was like we were born to be partners. I instantly knew what had happened to her, but she put her finger to her lips so I wouldn't say anything. Then, she looked at Jerome and said playfully, "Well, I would be in your debt forever if you carried me out to the common room to have breakfast."

She held out her arms, and Jerome gave in and grabbed the girl into his arms. He planted a kiss on her mouth before carrying her out into the kitchen. I followed the two, and held in my laugh when I saw everyone's confused expressions when we walked in. We were surrounded by questions of "What happened?", "Is Mara okay?" and "Could you pass the juice?"

Jerome explained about Mara's injury, but no one in Sibuna suspected that Mara had a dream. I supposed I was the only one who knew; I mean, I was the Seeker and Mara's partner, but the evidence was all there. After Amber's first dream, she had complained about her ankle, but I guessed the fall wasn't as bad as Mara's was.

I sat down in the seat between Fabian and Amber. I kissed Amber's check as she buttered a piece of toast, and Fabian said, "Meeting after school. Right behind the House. Be there. It's important."

I nodded, trying to play down a bad feeling I had. It resided in me all throughout the day, and it only confirmed my suspicion when I saw Mick looking annoyed, holding his hat.

**xXx **

"Um...woah," I muttered, hurrying back to the bed and waiting for Jerome to settle into his. I had barely been around Jerome since Mara claimed me as her partner and wouldn't me out of her sights. "That was weird."

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about," Jerome muttered, disoriented. Fabian had a theory that Mick could take us to Shadowland with his hat, and when he tried it alone, it worked, but when he tried to take us all, it hadn't worked and he'd passed out. Jerome had to heal someone for the second time that day and he wasn't happy about it, and it only worsened his mood when Mara wouldn't stop talking to me.

Jerome would never admit it, but he was missing his best friend and girlfriend at his sides. I got a good chuckle out of that. We settled into the beds and listened to "IT IS TEN O'CLOCK! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY...AND THEN I WANT TO HEAR A PIN...DROP!"

"Alfie?" I heard Jerome whisper, only two seconds before I fell into unconsciousness.

"Hm?" I mumbled, lifting my head off the pillow the slightest bit to see my best friend wide awake, laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"When do you think this is going to end?"

"I don't know, mate," I answered, already knowing what he was talking about. He had to heal his girlfriend's broken ankle today, all because she had her first dream the previous dream. "I really don't know."

**xXx**

I could honestly say that I wasn't expecting a dream.

Much less to _share_ a dream.

After the rough landing in Shadowland, I was face-to-face with one of my friends, one which I hadn't seen the face in for over a month. I wasn't expecting a dream, because only Amber and Fabian had gotten them - well, including Mara, who finally got her first dream - but I definitely wasn't anticipating getting one. Maybe if Nina had warned me...

Nina looked me over, and then at the person next to me. When I turned my head, much to my surprise, was Jerome.

"What the hell are both of you doing here?!" she cried, looking from both Jerome to me and back to Jerome. I could tell that she was surprised about the fact that we were both here, for some reason.

The only thing Jerome said was, "I saved your life on Halloween, and this is how you greet me. I can feel the love."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - Longest chapter yet! Like I said, sorry for missing out on 2 weeks; the next chapter, 38, will [most likely] be up next week, and I'm predicting it'll be about 12k words, just in that one chapter. Prepare for next week, my lovelies, because you're in for a hell of a ride.  
>Have a sparkling day!~<br>~Julianna**


	38. Come Morning Light (Part I)

**A/N - To the guest 'PillowMaster', thanks for reading, but the point of reviews is to tell me how you liked the chapter/what I need to improve on; not to tell me how your brain isn't working today, how the lights keep flickering and that 'I only read the A/N'. Your reviews kind of annoyed me because as a writer, I'm looking for Constructive Criticism; how someone liked a chapter, what they want, and what I should improve on. Again, thanks for reviewing, but if you plan on reviewing in the future, I'd like you to get to the point.**

**Wow, I hate this chapter. I've had this idea for months and I'm glad I finally got up to writing it, but I absolutely hate the way it came out. I just hate this story in general. Idek.**

**Hah, I just remembered that I actually published this story on October 17th, 2011 (one day before this story was actually published) but soon after I published it, another story in the HoA archive popped up saying that the stories were growing unoriginal with bad writing. It was only my second day on FFN, so I didn't know any better; I reviewed it...I don't remember what I said, though. (It was only my second day on the site cut me some slack) I deleted the original story, because it wasn't getting any comments, so I published it the next day and received two reviews. Then, I didn't update for four months...yeah, this story has been through A LOT. **

**I think I'm one of the last stories to be updated since 2011...I feel like one of the mothers of the fandom, since I've been into the show since January 2011 and have been reading HoA fanfiction since March 2011...wow. **

**And, if you are reading this chapter, pat yourself on the back. You are currently up to date with the longest story in the House of Anubis FanFiction archive; a whopping 160,000 words. I want to congratulate you all for probably spending hours upon hours reading this story. Whether you've been here since October 18th, 2011, or just started today, you have accomplished a feat and all my readers of the readers of the LONGEST story in the HoA archive. Pat yourself on the back!**

* * *

><p><em>"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"<em>

_~Albus Dumbledore_

* * *

><p><strong>xXx<strong>

* * *

><p>She'd always been a good artist.<p>

The mental patient sat on her bed with a sketchpad in her lap and a pencil between her fingers. She'd been locked in a room for three years now with nothing but those tools; she'd put them to good use.

The nurse walked in carefully, shutting the door slowly and quietly. She, in her usual white uniform, walked up to the girl sitting on the bed. The girl had purple bags under her eyes; it looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.

"Honey?" she whispered, trying to move her attention away from the sketchpad. "Why haven't you slept? You used to sleep all the time..."

"Victor is still after the pieces," she mumbled, not moving her attention from the pencil that was moving rhythmically in her hand. "Fabian and I have to keep them away from him and the rest of the Society."

The nurse was used to this; she'd dealt with mental patients for years. She knew how the usually made up fantasy worlds inside their heads to escape from the reality they were in. They didn't want to tell themselves they were locked away to keep them from harming other people, so they created fake universes to live in.

This particular patient, however, was different. She was convinced that she received a scholarship to a British boarding school, and that the "House of Anubis" was tied to Egyptian mythology; two people, named Robert and Louisa Frobisher-Smythe, stole the Cup of Ankh from Tutankhamun's tomb and hid the seven broken up pieces in the House she was residing in. She thought her name was Nina Martin.

The nurse walked behind the patient to see what she was drawing. She looked like she was shading someone's features; when the nurse saw the drawing again, she saw it was a person; and, much to her surprise, the person resembled herself greatly.

To get the patient's attention, the nurse snapped her fingers. She knew the girl didn't like being touched; and she hadn't been touched in three years. Not in any way, shape, or form. The patient looked up to face the nurse.

The nurse decided to word her sentence carefully. "Miss, that woman you are drawing...it seems to look a bit like me."

The patient nodded, and met her eyes for the first time in three years. The nurse was surprised to see that her eyes were a startling green. "Yes," she began, "You are in Victor's society. Your name is Delia, and you crave immortal life."

The nurse, who was really named Lisa, smiled sadly. The patient had been in the hospital for almost three years, and every time Lisa came to visit, she was doodling in her notepad about some world she'd created. The hospital sucked the life out of every single one of its patients - she didn't want to keep her from a better reality.

The patient turned back to her sketchpad. Lisa crouched down on the floor to see the drawings better, and she was surprised to find the patient was such a good artist. Lisa pointed to one of the drawings; a tall, thin girl with long hair. "Who's this?" she asked.

"That's Amber," the patient smiled; it was odd to see, since Lisa had never seen her smile, much less move. "Amber Millington. She's rich, blonde, and can come off as rude, dumb and annoying, but she has a good heart and is honestly smarter than she seems and surprises Sibuna all the time..."

Lisa didn't know who or what Sibuna was, but she let the girl continue by pointing to another drawing. "This one is Patricia Williamson. She's a redhead, snarky, rude, and can be cruel. She used to seem unapproachable until Eddie Miller came-" She pointed to another drawing, "and she started dating him. Eddie is the Osirian - the born protector of the Paragon; the Chosen One. Me. He's my protector. He's also the son of Mr. Sweet, who's the headmaster of the school."

The girl continued, "Over here is Mick Campbell and Mara Jaffray. Mick is athletic, and Mara is really, really smart. They didn't work together, but when Amber and Mick broke up, Mara trained Mick in football, and they eventually started dating, but in my second year, Mick was offered a scholarship is Australia, so when he left, that's why there was room for Eddie to come into Anubis House. Then Mara decided to get to know Jerome Clarke better, who had a crush on Mara for years."

She pointed to two boys, who she drew side by side and smiling. "Jerome Clarke, the cunning and suspicious one, is best friends with Alfie Lewis, the ultimate prankster, and the joke of Sibuna, but he always ends up proving himself in the end. I _always_ start thinking that he can't do it, but I'm always proven wrong. I believe that he is the bravest out of all the Sibuna's."

The nurse, Lisa, couldn't hold herself back much longer. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. Finally, she drew the girl's attention from her notebook and asked her what a 'Sibuna' was.

"It's our group," she mumbled, smiling slightly. The girl liked thinking about this. "Sibuna. Anubis backwards. We solve the mysteries of the House and stop Victor and his Society from taking over the world by gaining immortality. I'm the leader, because I'm the Chosen One. Fabian's my sidekick...I miss Fabian..." Suddenly, her happy expression transformed into a saddened one, obviously thinking of this 'Fabian' person.

What she didn't know was that none of those people existed. She had made them all up in her head. Neither did the school. or Anubis House. In fact, Nina Martin had never existed, because that wasn't even her real name. She had tricked herself into thinking it was.

* * *

><p><strong>xXx<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nina<br>Shadowland**

"Is there any food around here?"

I rolled my eyes. It seemed like Jerome and Alfie had gotten over their shock of being here at the same time. I didn't know they were both brought here; the dreams were supposed to be for a single person.

I followed the two boys into the kitchen, where there was indeed food. Eddie had bought some food from the market a few weeks ago; I would never admit it (but Eddie probably already knew considering the amount of food in the cabinets hadn't changed), but I wasn't eating any of the food. The Man in Red, now renamed Paul, knew about the food, and he wasn't happy.

I wouldn't have eaten it anyway. I'd been living off a certain amount of food for a month now; if I ate a different amount, I didn't think my stomach would be able to handle it and I'd probably throw it all up and Paul would blame me or something.

It seemed like Alfie hadn't changed in the month I hadn't seen him; and Jerome wasn't all that different either. Unlike Alfie, I'd seen Jerome once or twice, because he was the Healer and I needed him to do his job for me sometimes. Fabian wondered why I wasn't bruised or scraped anymore, but that was because Jerome had healed me once or twice and I'd hidden the bruises and cuts.

I didn't think Alfie would be all that happy when I told him I'd been talking to a non-Sibuna more than an actual member. I trailed behind Alfie as we walked into the kitchen, where they were scouring the cabinets and scanning the counters for anything to eat. They didn't care that I didn't know why they were both here; all they seemed to care about was food.

"There's food in the fifth cabinet above the counter," I told the two boys, a slightly annoyed expression on my face. As much as I wanted to get the dreams over with, I was happy the two pranksters were here. I couldn't be that upset with_ them_ in my presence.

Alfie and Jerome both shared a look and raided the cabinet. I laughed to myself and walked into the common room, waiting for the boys to return with armfuls of food; and, of course, they strutted in, Jerome leaning over to collect a can of something he dropped. I was sitting on the couch; Jerome and Alfie sat on my right.

Alfie stuffed his face with food before asking me, his voice muffled by the bread, "So why are we both here, Nina?"

I waited for him to swallow his good before answering his question. "I don't know," I admitted, while Jerome took a sip of his water. "I wanted to give Alfie a dream, but then Jerome came here too."

"Oh, so you weren't even planning to send me one!" Jerome exclaimed, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "I saved your life -"

"On Halloween, yeah, I know, Jerome," I retorted, rolling my eyes. "You can stop saying that now. Look, I was just trying to give Alfie a dream and suddenly I'm greeted with two boys instead of one. I don't know how you both got here. Any ideas?" I asked, spreading my arms to suggest brainstorming.

They didn't continue talking until they had finished all the food they carried with him. I didn't mind that they were eating the food; I wouldn't even eat it myself. I had hours until Paul returned, so it didn't matter that they were taking a long time.

I liked being in my friend's presence, because for the past month, I'd been feeling like they weren't real. Like Anubis House had never even existed, and I'd made everything up.

I was a mental patient in a hospital, and I was thinking of a world that was better than the one I was in. I made up Fabian Rutter, Amber Millington, Patricia Williamson, and everyone else. It was all in my head. They had never really existed. I was a patient in a mental hospital, and Anubis House and Shadowland were all made up in my head.

I'd be sad if Jerome and Alfie were fictional people that I'd created myself. I'd wake up out of this fictional world only to realize that the pranksters Lewis and Clarke weren't planning their next move and Mara Jaffray wasn't studying for her next test. Patricia Williamson wasn't sneering at everyone who crossed her path; Amber wasn't reading a fashion magazine and complaining to Alfie how those shoes didn't match that dress. Mick wasn't kicking a football around the common room and Fabian wasn't writing down a science theory. Trudy wasn't cooking supper in the kitchen and Victor wasn't stroking his stuffed bird.

"Hellooooo!" Alfie said, breaking me from the state I was in. He was waving his hand in front of my face. "Ninaaaa? Are you in there? Earth to Nina Martin? Hellooooo?"

"Alfie," Jerome chided playfully. "How would you feel if you were a sixteen-year-old girl locked in a different dimension twenty four-seven?" Alfie chuckled and pushed punched Jerome's arm. "Now, Nina, Fabian has probably talked about these dreams four million, five thousand and seventy-two times, so we now how these work. No need to explain. So what are you going to tell us this time?"

"Um..." I tried to remember what I was going to say before I got sucked into the thought of the fictional world with the Anubis residents. "I know that the Paul is a kind of spirit -"

"Paul?" Jerome asked.

"Who's Paul?" Alfie asked.

That's when I knew I didn't make them up. The two boys had smirks on their faces and their arms were crossed. I would never imagined two people this annoying.

I heaved a sigh and started to explain. "Paul's the man who the Man in Red took over. He's a real person now, so we're going to call him by a real name, and not some kind of spirit man...dude...Edd- I mean, someone - thought of the name. So now his name is Paul. Is that clear?"

"Comprendo," Jerome answered, a smile on his face, while Alfie shot me a thumbs up and exclaimed, "Crystal clear."

I sucked in a breath of air. They knew what I knew, and so it was time to send them back to Anubis House and forget they ever had a dream. I might never be sending them dreams ever again, because they were annoying as I remembered them to be.

"So, Alfie," I began, turning to him, "You're a Seeker. I know that the spirit was a person, but I don't know who he was before he died...or whatever happened to him. Do you know?"

Alfie tapped his chin for a moment, but then faced me and simply said, "No."

"No?" I exclaimed, a look of confusion and anger creeping up on my face. "What do you mean, 'No'? You're a Seeker! You can know anything! Why don't you know this?"

He sighed patiently, and then when I wasn't screaming, he explained, "Yes, I'm a Seeker; but that much knowledge must come with drawbacks. I can know any answer in the world, but if I want to know a person's secret, or where they hid the money, or even if they killed someone, I can't know if they don't _want_ me to know. They want to keep the secret to themselves, so I can't know that. Just like I can't know what happened to you in the past month you've been here, because you don't want me to know.

"I do know he's a bad idea, though. He's nothing good. You shouldn't mess with him."

"Yeah, I know that," I answered, staring down at the floor. I felt a little disappointed that Alfie couldn't know who the spirit/Paul really was, but if I could survive a month without knowing, I could survive a little longer.

"Anyway," I began, trying to rid my mind of the thought of knowing who my kidnapper was, "Do you know why you two are in the same dream as each other? I want to know, Alfie, so you should be able to figure it out."

It didn't even take a second. Alfie answered with, "Mara and I were supposed to get a dream together, because we're the two Seekers."

"But I've already given Mara a dream," I said, "And she was alone."

"Yes," Alfie reasoned, "but Mara and I are connected by a string, and somehow you broke that connection so she gets the dreams alone. I should get the dreams alone too, but the broken connection got messed up so now Jerome and I have the dreams together."

I nodded slowly, trying to take all of it in. "Well," I started, "please try to figure out who the spirit is, because I don't think I can take much longer of not knowing who he is."

I was just preparing to send them back when, unluckily for me, my stomach growled.

I hadn't been getting that much to eat. I never really had, ever since I was taken over a month ago. But I'd adjusted to the amount of food I was getting, so I was surprised that my body was telling me I was hungry, when Paul had most certainly fed me this morning, as he did every morning. I still didn't know who he really was, but his heart was nice enough to give me food every day.

"Hmm..." Alfie mused, stroking his invisible beard dramatically. "Nina is hungry. Well, Jerome, we just ate a whole bunch of food. Why don't we prepare something for the girl who's been missing for a month?" Jerome nodded and they both hurried into the kitchen, but before they could step into the room, I blocked the doorway. The two boys stopped suddenly, and looks of confusion spread over their faces.

"I'm not hungry," I attempted to persuade them. I actually didn't feel all that hungry, to tell the truth. "I'm really not. You're just going to waste food and if Paul sees any food is missing, he'll either blame me or Ed - or someone like you and then I'll feel ashamed so I'll cry in the corner and I'm sure you don't want that."

"You keep mentioning someone," Jerome announced, while Alfie groaned with frustration. "The beginning of the name sounds familiar, but since you won't say the full name, I can't figure out who."

I was hesitant to say Eddie's name because the people at Anubis House already knew he was a spy for Paul, and he'd only been in the UK for fifteen days. I didn't want to give any information out, like how he tried to visit every day, because then it wouldn't end up pretty for him. I didn't want to see him suffer while he was here; he visited because of me, and if I was the reason he got hurt, I'd probably never forgive myself.

"It's no one," I lied smoothly, trying to convince Jerome, who assumed nothing and suspected everything.

"Just some imaginary character to keep you company while you sit alone in the corner?" Jerome teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him. Ever since it was revealed he was the Healer, we'd been growing closer and closer, even though we weren't even that close in my first year.

"Pretty much," I played along, a genuine smile creeping up on my face. Even though the two boys annoyed the crap out of me, I liked having them around. They were funny, even in times where they were brought to a torture chamber.

I started to walk back to the main room, and Alfie and Jerome followed. I was sure I had lured them out of the kitchen, when my body confirmed it hated me by my stomach growling again. Jerome and Alfie didn't run back to the kitchen with mischievous smiles on their faces this time; Alfie only tilted his head, as if to say _You can stop lying now._

"Seriously, Nina, how much have you been fed?" Alfie questioned, sitting down on the sofa again. His usual playful look had been replaced with a serious one; I knew there was no joking around. I cursed myself for making him a Seeker.

"I've had enough," I tried to persuade him, but neither person seemed to be falling for it. "Enough to live off of. I get enough. Trust me."

Jerome approached me and touched my arm gently. That slight touch made me flinch; even Jerome noticed how shocked I'd been. Before, they were all for joking around and stealing the food, but now they both realized how serious the conditions here were.

Jerome was licking his lips, obviously considering what might have been happening to me. After all, he was the Healer; he practically knew any injury.

Finally, he came to a decision. "Nina, have you been abused?"

Eddie ended up saving by ass from explaining by walking in, but that would only get me into deeper trouble. Jerome and Alfie were already starting to suspect I'd been abused and underfed, which wasn't good in the least, but now Eddie had to walk in in the middle of a dream.

Jerome narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the blonde boy who had just walked in, holding something behind his back. "What's he doing here?" Jerome asked, moving his finger from Eddie to me. His eyebrows lifted, and before I could do any further explaining, I ran to Eddie, who was standing in the doorway, his eyes the size of tennis balls.

"Come along now, Eddie, let's go inside," I muttered, pushing him into my room, attempting to hide him from the two questioning boys in my house. "I think you've caused enough trouble."

I ignored his questions and shut the door in his face. I ran back into the main room to be greeted with Alfie and Jerome with their hands on their hips, ready to question me; but I was the one in charge here. I smiled in spite of myself and approached them.

"Well, guys, I guess it's time to end this dream," I said, and I smiled wider when I saw them remove their poses and start to beg for them to be kept here.

"No, Nina, no, don't send us back -" but it was too late. They disappeared with a pop, and I was left alone with the memories of two annoying boys.

Eddie ran out from my room and landed next to me. "Dude, what was that?" he asked, panting. He was obviously tired out from the run from Anubis House to here. I was really glad to have him here; he hadn't come in a while, and I wasn't sure why. I watched him with his hands on his knees, a small smile creeping up on my face.

I led him to the couch, where he crashed on his back and stared at the ceiling. I sat next to him, so he drew his legs back enough for me to plop down. I decided to ask him why he hadn't visited in a while, which he answered with, "Some girl at school died."

Well, that was unexpected. "What?" I cried, standing up suddenly; so quick that I actually startled the boy who wasn't even scared by an evil spirit.

Eddie grabbed my hand and pulled me back down onto the couch. "Yes," he answered carefully, "Her name was Laura Lynch. You didn't know her. No one from Anubis House died."

That information made me feel a little bit better, but I still felt bad for the girl. Eddie and I locked eyes; I knew him well enough to tell that he was hiding something. I bit my lip before I asked, "How did she die?"

"We don't know for sure," he muttered bitterly, sitting up with an angry look on his face. "She died on Monday. School was cancelled the day after that, but when we went back on Wednesday, no one would tell us anything about her. The teachers wouldn't give anything away, not even Mr. Sweet; my own dad!" He huffed in exasperation before he continued with, "Someone said that a random man came into the school and tortured her until her body gave in and stopped working. We held a search for the murderer, but we found him dead in the woods a few days later. And I think I know who the real murderer is."

Eddie met my eyes again, and I knew who he was thinking of: _The Man in Red._ The spirit had left Paul's body and taken another man's, then proceeded to go into the school. He was probably looking for one of the Anubis kids, but instead this girl had gotten in his way, so he lost his temper and killed her.

I wouldn't be surprised if a different man walked in here, since the spirit had most likely taken another body, as he dropped Paul, and before that, Mr. Winkler. I didn't even know who the spirit really was; he had to be a person. Every spirit was a person once. He could either be from a dead body...or a living one.

"Don't dwell on it, Nina," Eddie commanded, sitting up next to me. "It's not worth it. You'll get out of here, I won't have to spy on the Anubis kids anymore, and this place will be gone from existence. I promise. You can trust me."

_"You can trust me, Nina. I promise."_

"That's what Fabian said," I mumbled, mostly to myself. I hadn't sent him a dream in over ten days, and even though I broke up with him (by force, thank you very much), I missed him more than anyone right now. He was the only one that was nice to me at first in my first year, and I eventually fell in love with him. I needed him more than anyone right now.

Suddenly, Eddie's eyes lit up with excitement. He jumped off the couch and ran into the room where I locked him in before, and I watched him run away with a look of confusion on my face. He didn't even explain what he was doing; but Eddie never really explained anything. I waited a few moments before he ran back into the room, holding something behind his back.

"What are you carrying...?" I asked, trying to maneuver around his body to see what he was hiding. Unfortunately, Eddie was bigger and faster than I was, so I never saw what he was holding.

"Uh uh uh," he scolded, waggling his finger back and forth. "It's a surprise, and you will not see this surprise until tonight. Well, I mean, if tonight goes the way I plan..."

His sentence confused me, but ever since I was young, I had hated surprises. My parents died by a surprise car accident. I wet my pants at my fifth grade birthday party when my friend jumped out and surprised me. If Eddie wanted to surprise me now...

I pouted, and started to walk towards the other room. I didn't know where I was going, exactly, but Eddie ran up behind me and threw me over his shoulder before I could walk any further.

"Hey!" I protested, thrashing back and forth, but Eddie held me tightly down and ran back into the main room, laughing maniacally. "Put. Me. Down! Eddison Sweet, I command you to _put me down_!

"Call me Eddie Miller and I'll think about it!" he laughed, but he, literally, threw me down onto the couch and I landed face-first onto it. I pushed myself up faster than Eddie could run away, so I grabbed his ankle and _he_ fell down onto the wood floor, his face breaking his fall. I was the one to laugh now.

"Oh, haha, so funny," he grumbled, pushing himself upright, and in the terrible lighting of this house, I could already see a bruise forming on his forehead. He'd have to make up a lie about where he got it, obviously, because he couldn't say something like _"Oh, I went to Shadowland during the night and after I threw Nina on the couch, she tripped me and I fell face-first onto the floor."_

I couldn't lift him up in time, because before he could see the light, the person who confused me more than anyone in the world walked in.

Surprisingly, he wasn't in a new body; he was still "Paul". I didn't know what to call him; first he was Jason, then he was a spirit, and now he was a man he picked up off the streets. If Eddie was right about the spirit being the one who killed the girl who went to our school, then he obviously saved Paul's body before he dumped him.

"Eddison, what are you doing?" he growled, and sent me a glare so ferocious I let Eddie fall to the ground again, therefore hitting the floor with a _thud_. I sat down on the couch and soon enough, Eddie pushed himself up and sat down next to me.

"Nothing," he finally answered, keeping a straight face and trying not to smile. "I tripped over my own feet and Nina here, being the oh-so-kind girl she is, tried to help me up."

Paul's body, that was trapped in the soul of a spirit, snarled, and he trudged back into another room. When we were sure he was out of earshot, Eddie and I locked eyes; I was trying, but failing, to keep my giggles in.

Unfortunately, while we were laughing, the Man in Red/Paul/the spirit (Whatever his name is nowadays), ran back in. He didn't do anything to hurt us, but he said, "What's so funny?" like he was a classmate of ours and saw us laughing in the halls.

"Nothing," Eddie chuckled, trying to contort his features into a straight face again. It took a minute, but his serious expression finally returned. "We were just laughing at a joke that one of my housemates told me."

MIR/Paul/the spirit/whats-his-face narrowed his eyes. "Tell me this joke you speak of."

Eddie looked taken aback; he obviously wasn't expecting having to specify the 'joke'. He sent me a quick glance, then sat up and started to explain. "Well, one of the people, Jerome Clarke, said the famous joke, 'Why did he chicken cross the road?' so we all groaned and was expecting him to say 'To get to the other side!' And he did say that, but he said 'The other side means Heaven or Hell. The chicken was crossing the street to die. It was a suicidal chicken."

Paul rolled his eyes at Eddie, who was now doubled over laughing on the couch, and trudged away into another room. When he was sure he was out of earshot, Eddie locked eyes with me and we both cracked up.

I hadn't laughed like that in so long; it was nice to let it all out. Eddie, who was laughing just as hard as I was, if not harder, gripped my arm for dear life. My laughing was cut short by him putting his finger to his lips, a movement to tell me to shut up. Only five seconds later, Paul walked back into the room.

"Why are you still laughing?" He spat, holding Eddie up by the collar of his shirt.

Eddie, on the other hand, didn't look scared by this action at all; instead, he answered smoothly, "Just laughing at how stupid you look today, sir."

I'd always known Eddie was a rebel; we'd shared our pasts in America with each other long before today. He liked taking risks and getting on people's nerves until the forehead vein was popping out. Eddie would get Paul's blood boiling, even though he was terrified of him. Paul released his shirt and Eddie fell back onto the couch. "You wouldn't be laughing if you knew who I really was, Miller."

That day was the day we found out who the Man in Red really was. For the past month and a day, I'd known him as someone that I wasn't to mess with. He wasn't Rufus or Victor. I couldn't thwart him or run faster than him or find the pieces faster than him. I'd been terrified of him since October 17th, and I was still scared of him now. He wasn't someone to mess with, and I knew that. I'd never asked him who he was or why he was doing this, even when I originally thought that Jason was the one who had kidnapped me. I'd come to the realization that I'd never know who he really was, but on November 18th, 2011, Eddie and I were informed of who he was.

"Yeah, well," Eddie began calmly, "I don't know who you are, despite the fact that you believe I do. I don't know you are, so I laugh!"

Paul pinched his nose in frustration. He paced around in a small circle before advancing on Eddie again. "You _know_ who I am, boy! Stop denying it...you know...you know who are you."

"Maybe if you could stop being annoying and secretive, you could get to point and tell me who are you?" Eddie suggested, sarcasm dripping in his tone. He spread his arms in suggestion; Paul took a deep breath before beginning his explanation.

"I am you, Eddison Miller," he began, short and sweet. He didn't say anything else, like he expected us to know what he meant.

"No, you're not," Eddie stated simply, and kicked back against the back of the couch. Paul, obviously, didn't appreciate Eddie's actions, because he pulled Eddie's feet from the other side of the couch onto the floor. Eddie glared at him, but before he continued, he sent me a look that said _This is going to take a while._

"I don't know what you mean," Eddie's tone was already growing impatient. "_You are not me_. You will never be me. I don't know if this is some kind of sick joke, but _you are not me_. You're an evil man spirit dude who doesn't care if he hurts his friends, but I do. Don't say you're me, because you're not."

"Oh, I am, you silly boy," he hissed, Paul's ice-cold blue eyes narrowing into slits. "Before I get into the confusing details, how about telling this young lady why you were brought to Liverpool in the first place?" He pointed his crooked finger my way.

I craned my neck to look at Eddie, my eyes widening. He'd told me he was sent to Liverpool to bond with his dad, Mr. Sweet...what if that wasn't true? Eddie had his eyes closed, like he didn't want to see my reaction.

"Well?" I asked softly, scared to know what the truth really was. I waited, watching Eddie's features, until he finally opened his eyes and said, "I came here to be closer to Nina, since I'm her Osirian."

"Yes, that's true..." Paul snarled, moving his body towards us on the couch in a snake-like way. "But why don't you tell her why your mother_ let_ you come in the first place? Tell her what you did, Eddison. _Tell her_."

Eddie inhaled quickly and exhaled at the same rate. "My mother was already considering sending me to Liverpool a few weeks before. I did something bad...I committed a crime. I robbed a house, and then ran away from the the police...my mother was telling me I needed to change my attitude. Of course, I was on watch and all, but when my dad called and said he needed me for some work - which turned out to be protecting you - my mom shipped me away the next day. And now...I'm here."

Silence followed for only a moment. "But that's fine," I answered, "I don't care. You're here now...I don't understand."

Paul groaned, before leaning back against the table. "You know that Eddison is your Osirian, your born protector, correct?" I nodded slowly, not knowing where he was going with this. "Well, everyone has a bad side to them. Sometimes people push down their bad side, so they appear nice, and sometimes people let it show; those are the bad people. Well, when Eddison here committed that crime, his bad side shone through with shining colors. He did something so bad, that his bad side escaped and became a human figure. That is me. I am Eddie's bad side; a spirit. I am Eddie, and Eddie is me."

* * *

><p><strong>xXx<strong>

* * *

><p>"Nina, please listen to me."<p>

I kept walking, ignoring the boy who was walking alone beside me as we walked through the forest. I acted like I didn't hear him; maybe he'd lay off me and head back for Anubis House.

"Come on, Nina. Please. Talk to me."

I would not talk to him. I couldn't; not after what we'd just found out. It had been a month since I'd been taken, and I'd learned not to trust the spirit, but I'd never known its true identity. He wasn't something to be played with; I forced myself to stay a distance away from Eddie, because I didn't particularly want to talk to the boy at the moment.

"I swear I have nothing to do with him," he promised me for the thousandth time. I stopped short in my tracks, and when I turned around, he met my eyes and we held each other's gazes for a few seconds before he continued his argument. "I had no idea who he was...I don't understand how he's me, but I mean...it makes sense...just, please don't freak out on me. I'm here for _you_."

I exhaled, tearing my eyes away from his. I stared at the forest floor for a few moments before speaking. "Well, I don't understand either," I began calmly, "But if...if he's really you...and all he's done to me...I just don't know, Eddie."

I sighed, and turned away from him, beginning to walk further into the forest. I didn't know where I was going; after Paul had announced that he was Eddie's bad side, I had stormed out of the house and into the forest, and Eddie followed me.

"All I know is that I would never, ever, hurt you," he said softly, but I didn't stop walking. " I'm not the type of person to be an abuser. I'd never hurt _anyone_. After all, I'm your Osirian; I was born to protect you. I wouldn't hurt you; I wouldn't even hurt Patricia, and she annoys the crap out of me."

I snorted when I heard that; I had almost forgotten that he resided in Anubis House. "Wow," I said, turning around so I was eye-to-eye with my Osirian again. "I should have seen it coming...the rebel and strong-willed Patricia...I could see you two fighting, but you're so similar that you'd actually make a good couple."

"Ugh!" he complained, making his way over to my side. "Gross. I would never like Patricia...ever...she's too.._.Patricia_, you know what I mean?"

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"You sound like you're in seventh grade."

"Hahaha, shut up. Patricia just annoys the crap out of me; there's no romantic feelings there whatsoever. You know?" he tried to reason with me, but now that he mentioned Patricia, I couldn't get the idea of them as a couple out of my mind.

"You can say all you want, but you two are so much alike that you'd work with each other. Compliment each other, even. Though, I don't think you'd even each other out, considering you're both 'rebels' and would probably blow up the whole school if it came to it..."

"Okay, can we stop talking about Patricia?" Eddie laughed as we walked side-by-side into deeper grounds. "I don't have a girlfriend and I don't want a girlfriend. I'm too preoccupied with being a spy for — myself, I guess — and saving your ass every night that I don't have time to be committed to a relationship, much less with Patricia Williamsfather."

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Patricia William_son_."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Your speech goes through one ear and out the other." He rolled his eyes after my statement. For a moment, he paused behind me — I turned around to ask what he was doing, but before I could speak, he sprinted ahead of me, cackling like a madman. Confused, I ran behind him, not knowing where he was going.

He eventually stopped near some sand — sand with rocks and broken seashells. I heard a _whooshing_ sound from ahead of me; I looked up, only to be faced with a massive ocean.

"What the fuck...?" I muttered to myself, walking slowly to the water. Eddie looked as confused as I was; after all, I'd been locked in here for a month, been in the forest countless times, but somehow I'd never stumbled upon this beach.

"How did a beach get here?" Eddie voiced his thoughts. He lifted his feet and ripped off both shoes — I guessed he was testing the water — he walked in, barefoot, into the ocean.

"Be careful!" I cried, but Eddie wasn't listening to me. "The water might be dangerous, or poisoned, or —"

"It's fine, Nina," Eddie laughed, splashing the water around like a little kid. "It actually feels kind of nice. I don't know why this beach is here...I'd always thought this place didn't exist. That Paul — or the Man in Red — well, me, technically — whatever his name is nowadays — I thought Whats-His-Face created it before he trapped you in here. There's a little island off in the distance there..."

He pointed to a little speck in the distance, sloshing through water in his clothes. "I don't think he'd create a place with other life...I think this place, Shadowland, actually exists..."

I sighed; this was all too much to take in. After learning that the Man in Red was actually Eddie — he was just his bad side who took a human form — and now with the information of Shadowland actually existing...all I wanted was to take a break and rest for a while. I plopped down on the sand, watching Eddie move into deeper waters.

Eddie eventually caught my hint that I wanted a break, so with his dripping wet clothes, ran back onto the sand and sat down next to me. "Let's just rest here for a while," he said. "No dream business. No theories of who the Man in Red is or why he took you. Just a break from everything. Me and you."

"Let's do that," I breathed, lying closer to the ground, knowing that if I was to be stuck in here with anybody, I would pick Eddie.


	39. Come Morning Light (Part II)

**A/N: Okay, so I saw the movie . . . I'm not going to go into depth, because I couldn't stop weeping near the end of it. All I have to say is: Thanks for everything, House of Anubis. I've loved being part of your fandom. It's been great.**

**Also, I'm upset to admit that there probably won't be weekly updates anymore. With my two multi-chapters, I'm writing more than 10,000 words a week. The two will be completed in the future (Don't Be Afraid in December, and Lost & Found in September), so there will be updates, just not every single week. Though I can say that _chapter 40 is currently in the works so I can guarantee an update next week._  
><strong>

**This chapter is crap, and I apologize for that.**

**So I watched Titanic for the 8th time on June 7th and the 9th time on June 20th. Still sobbing.**

**Have a sparkling day!~  
><strong>**~Julianna**

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

_"I'm here again, a thousand miles away from you. A broken mess; just scattered pieces of who I am."_

**v v v**

* * *

><p><strong>Nina<br>****Shadowland  
><strong>**Saturday, November 19th, 2011**

"So, why did you break up with him?"

I didn't answer him at first. Eddie and I left the beach a few minutes ago, and we set out to see more of what was in this forest, so I kind of knew it in my soul that he was going to ask me about my ex-boyfriend.

Without looking at him, I answered, "I just thought we needed to take a break. You know, being in two different dimensions and all...it really takes away the romantic aspect of it..."

"But, Nina..." Eddie began, and I rolled my eyes. I knew I was in for a long talk. "Fabian's my roommate. I've heard him talking to everyone about you. He loves you...really. All he wants is to be with you again."

"Yeah, well, I didn't really want to break up with him in the first place," I muttered bitterly, under my breath. When Eddie asked what I said, I brushed the question away and tried to return back to the subject of Fabian. "Yeah, I know. I just don't think, with these circumstances, that it's the best idea for me to have a relationship."

"They're going to get you out," Eddie replied confidently. "I know they will. With all the information they have, and the motivation they have towards rescuing you, it won't be long until you're out of here."

"I wish that was true, Eddie," I retorted, stopping in my tracks to face him. His blonde hair, usually in a spike, was glued to his forehead thanks to the water from the beach. "But I don't know if that's possible with the Anti-Osirian coming in every day to check if I'm still here."

Eddie groaned, jogging a little faster to catch up with me, as I began walking again. "Look, as I've told you before, I don't know what he's talking about. I wouldn't hurt you. Never."

"I know you wouldn't," I told him, almost inaudibly, "But since you committed a crime, your bad side escaped and took a human form. And that's who the Man in Red is...I think that because you're my Protector, he's the opposite; kind of like the Harmer...or the Persecutor. While you would never hurt me..._he_ would."

Eddie was silent for a moment. I could tell he was trying to decipher my expression and trying to tell what I was feeling. I decided to continue the conversation before he could go any more in depth about Anti-Eddie than we already were.

"Well, enough about _my_ love life," I replied playfully. "What about you and Patricia, eh?"

Eddie groaned, leaning against a tree. We were in the middle of the forest while the sun was going down; I didn't know how we were going to find our way back to where we needed to be before dusk. "I don't know what you're talking about," he stated simply.

"Oh, _come on,_" I retorted, mimicking him by leaning against another tree across from him. "I've heard you tell Paul before that she followed you here. Then, when you thought I was sleeping one day, I heard you mutter that you thought she was pretty."

"I never said that!" Eddie defended, but he couldn't fool me. "Nina, do you really think I have time for a girlfriend, with all this going on? You think I have time to go on a midnight picnic with Patricia Williamson when I was _supposed_ to be spying on the Anubis kids to bring back to the man who's really me?"

I shrugged, still leaning against the bark. Eddie waited for me to continue; when I didn't say anything, he groaned once more and took off further into the forest. I quickly pushed myself off of the tree trunk and jogged to catch up with him.

"You'd make such good friends though!" I tried to persuade him, but Eddie obviously wasn't listening. "Patricia's a rebel. You're a rebel. You'd understand each other better than anyone else, and trust me, Patricia is hard to understand."

"No, she's really not," Eddie muttered. "She's an annoying git who follows me everywhere. I've _tried_ to tell her to stop, but what does she do? Follows me again! Then the next day she approaches me and says..."— Eddie started to do a horrible impression of Patricia in an even worse British accent — "I know you were with Nina Martin last night. I heard you even though I couldn't hear Nina. So don't try to play dumb because I can read you like a book blah blah blah bah blah."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, watching Eddie move his hand so his fingers met his thumb like a mouth. "Why couldn't she hear me? If she's the One Who Can Hear..."

"Beats me," Eddie said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't really care. All I care about is that the annoying redheaded git is out of my life forever."

I tried to hold in a laugh. It was obvious that Eddie harbored feelings for her, but I wasn't so sure about how Patricia felt about him. She's usually scared of her feelings and where they lead her; the only thing she was absolutely positive about last year was that I had something to do with Joy's disappearance (which proved to be wrong).

Even though the question of why Patricia couldn't hear my voice was still lingering in the air, it was immediately brushed aside by the sight of a clearing.

"I've never seen this before," I murmured, as Eddie and I walked in side-by-side. He reached for my hand, and I wrapped mine in his; this clearing was bare and dreary-looking.

"Are you kidding?" Eddie asked incrediously. "You've been locked in here for a month, and you haven't seen this before?"

"Well, _sorry_, but I was a bit too busy being locked up by _you._" I snapped, and Eddie immediately shot me an apologetic look. I knew he had nothing to do with the evil part of himself, but now I couldn't look at him for more than two seconds without seeing the man who kidnapped me. His hazel eyes had a great amount of sadness to them.

"Sorry," I said, being the one to apologize this time. Eddie smiled sadly and placed his hand on my shoulder; I braced myself, preparing for him to hit me, but he never did anything like that.

It made sense, unfortunately; while Eddie's destiny was to protect me, the Man in Red, who was his bad side, was the opposite of Eddie; his destiny was to destroy me. For a month, I had been wondering what I'd been doing wrong, because he was abusing me; now, it made perfect sense.

"It's okay," Eddie said softly, grabbing my hand again. I took a deep breath, and we plunged deeper into the clearing.

The grass was overgrown; the bushes and shrubs were eating away at the ground, while the branches of the trees met the dirt and the leaves broke off, dead. The clearing obviously hadn't been touched in many, many years; possibly even decades.

"Yeah, I've _definitely_ never seen this before," I murmured, looking at the barren ground. "There's this meadow-like clearing somewhere in these woods. I should show Amber one day...she'd flip."

"So show it to her!" Eddie suggested, like that should have been my first choice. "I mean, you're on speaking terms again, correct? So if she'd like it, send her a dream today or tomorrow and show it to her."

"Yeah, maybe." I was inspecting an overgrown bush when Eddie released his grip on my hand. I turned around, to see him walking in the opposite direction in which we came. "Eddie?" I called out to him, but he held up a hand, motioning for me to be quiet. I silenced myself, and waited for Eddie to explain his actions.

"Do you hear something?" I could faintly hear Eddie mutter from where he was standing in front of me.

"No," I whispered back, now standing right behind him. Eddie and I were silent for a moment, trying to listen to whatever he had heard; but with a few minutes' silence, I left Eddie's side and started to walk around the clearing again.

"There it is again!" Eddie exclaimed, after another moments' silence from him.

I walked up to him again and waited, only, once again, to be greeted with silence. "It's probably just your nerves, Eddie," I attempted to explain. "You've never been in this forest before. You're probably just scared."

Eddie blinked. "Nina, you're talking to the boy who spies on people he doesn't know to protect a girl he's known for sixteen days and to satisfy myself — technically —, so no, I'm not just scared. I heard something."_  
><em>

"Well, don't ask me," I stated simply, wanting to sit on the dirt, but I knew better than to do that. "I've barely even been in this part of the forest. Like I've said, your evil part has kept me locked up in the house lately. I hadn't had time to...explore, I guess."

"That doesn't really help, Nina."

I inhaled and exhaled slowly; I still didn't hear what Eddie was talking about. I questioned his motives once again, and he responded with, "Just listen. Really _listen_. Then you'll see."

I took a deep breath and waited; and, soon enough, I heard a faint sound in the distance also. I held onto his arm for support, thinking that it might have been some kind of monster. "Eddie, let's go," I commanded him.

"No," he said, holding me in place. "Stay here for a few seconds. As we know, nothing is ever what it seems here. It might not be as bad as you think."

"Yes," I responded, "Thank you for that, Captain Obvious. But the thing we think might not be as bad as we think might be _worse_ than we think."

He flashed me a grin. "You're welcome, Sergeant Sarcasm. If it's something bad, we'll leave, but for now we have to stay." I rolled my eyes, but I could feel my breath shake as I stood still for a moment. The footsteps in the distance steadily increased, becoming louder...

Louder—

_Louder_**—**

**Louder—**

Two figures waked into the clearing. One was a small girl that could only be about six. She was clutching a stuffed animal in one hand, and holding a hand in the other. The hand she was holding belonged to an older woman, who had to be somewhere in her twenties. Unlike the small child, who radiated an innocent aura, the older woman had bruises and cuts on her face.

Eddie was staring at the exact spot where the two girls stood, but they didn't seem to know he was looking at them. Still, he stared, but the two girls didn't seem to know.

Eddie side-walked over to where I was standing and whispered, "Can you see them too?"

"Depends," I responded, also in a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear nonetheless. "What are you seeing?"

"Two guys. One younger, one older. Both with blonde hair...flat, straight blonde hair...and hazel eyes, from what I can see," Eddie described, never moving his eyes off the spot where the two girls stood. "What about you?"

"Two girls. One younger, one older. Both with brown hair; one with straight and the other with curly waves. Green eyes, from what I can see," I repeated Eddie's words, changing a few details of my own. "So basically copies of ourselves."

"Do you think..." he began, and I knew Eddie was going to spit out a theory. "Do you think they _are_ ourselves? Do you think that's _us_?"

"How could they be _us_?" I retorted, my back to Eddie's back. "The two people are younger and older. Neither of them are teenagers. How can they be us when they're not even our age?"

"Should I ask how old they are?" Eddie questioned, and I quickly shrugged. He looked at the spot where the two girls were standing, though he saw two different people, and asked, his voice raised rather high, "What are your names?"

I couldn't hear anything, but Eddie responded in a quick, rushed voice: "They said their names were Eddie at the same time. So it's official. They _are_ us. So the two girls you see are named Nina and they're _you._"

"How could they be me?" I asked again, not wanting to believe my ears. How could these two girls standing here, looking at me, be me? Sure, they looked exactly like me, but one was six and one looked like she was twenty-six...

"Shit," I muttered to myself, and when Eddie asked what was wrong, I continued with: "You're right. They're us, but they're ten years older, and ten years younger."

"So the little guy with flattened blonde hair who's holding a picture of an older dude is me when I was six..." Eddie mused. "And the older one, who looks more mature than I could get if I was hit by it, is what I'll be when I'm twenty-six?"

"Yes," the two girls standing in front of me said. I was taken off guard for the slightest moment, but then jerked back to the present by myself **—** ten years older, and ten years younger.

The older one announced, "I represent your loss of innocence...if only you could see the bags under my eyes..."

While the younger one peeped, "I am your innocence. You have lost me in this place..."

My breathing rate started to increase; I was on the edge of hyperventilation. "Eddie?" I quickly asked, my breaths starting to quicken by the second.

"What?" Eddie responded, equally as terrified as I was.

"I really want to leave..." I mumbled, and Eddie grabbed my hand in reassurance. It didn't help my fear at all **— **my breathing didn't shorten or my eyes didn't stop watering — but it felt nice knowing that someone else was by my side with this.

"I know," he responded. "Me too. Me too."

"No," I continued. "I want to leave this place. This dimension...thing...I want to go back to Anubis House..."

"I don't know if you do," the younger six-year-old girl said. Her hair was neat, pinned back, and combed back in a nice pigtail. She looked exactly as she said she was: innocence. She held the stuffed animal closer to her chest. "But you can learn from us."

"Can we leave?" I begged, but the boy standing beside me didn't respond. I turned back to the two girls standing in front of me and asked, "What do you want?"

I had never really given a thought to the older one; the one who was supposed to be me in ten years. She had bruises and cuts on her face, arms, and legs, and looked like she could willingly die any second. The older one announced, "You can learn loads from us. Take me, for instance. I am you in one decade...how do you suppose I ended up like this? Bruised, and battered?"

"Eddie?" I called out louder. He was still by my side, but he was unresponsive. "Eddie, please. Let's go."

He still didn't respond. I faced the decade-older me and yelled, "Leave me alone! I want nothing to do with you!" I could feel myself shaking as I turned my head away from the two girls and towards Eddie.

"Eddie, please, come on," I tried to pull on his hand, but it seemed like he didn't realize I was touching him. "Eddie! Come on! Please!"

"Shhh," the older one continued. "There's nothing to be afraid of. We are here to make you think. I am what you will be in ten years, whether you try to fight it or not. I will be your future. I am your loss of innocence and happiness. How do you think I ended up like this?"

"I don't know," I whispered, tears starting to fall down my face. All I wanted to do was leave, but Eddie wasn't responding and the two girls wouldn't leave me alone. "I have no idea."

"Think!" she exclaimed, making me jump back in shock. "It is the hand of someone you will never expect! Someone you would trust with your life..."

"Fabian would never hurt me," I stated. Fabian was the first one to come to mind; he'd always been there for me — in the beginning, when no one would trust me because of Joy's sudden disappearance, or in the end, when he was assuring me that we'd fulfill Sarah's quest and end everything. He was the one, out of everyone in Anubis House, that I would trust with my life. He'd pull me up if I was hanging at the edge of a cliff. And I'd do the same thing for him.

"No, he wouldn't," the older woman continued. "I will not say whether or not it is him, but it is a friend by which you will be betrayed. Be careful, Chosen One, because your life in the future will be a painful one."

The two girls walked side-by-side out of the clearing. I watched my six-year-old self grab the hand of my twenty-six year old one, and hold the stuffed animal closer to her chest. I didn't remember owning that, but then again I didn't remember much from when I was six.

"Hey, wait!" I yelled out to them, but neither turned around. As they kept walking, I continued yelling. "You're still in here! Does that mean I never get out! Please! Tell me!" The tears on my face doubled; I was frightened beyond belief, and Eddie still wasn't responding to touch.

"Eddie." I shook him, but his eyes were glued to the spot where the two girls once stood. "Eddie, come on. Please. Let's go."

After waiting for a few minutes with still no answer, I grabbed his arm and led him out of the clearing.

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

_"I've tried so hard; thought I could do this on my own. I've lost so much along the way."_

**v v v**

* * *

><p>"Are you tired?" Eddie asked, once we had left the clearing and was back on the path again. He yawned. "Because I'm exhausted."<p>

It seemed that as soon as I dragged him out of the clearing, his head cleared; he was responding to my voice and touch. I'd finally stopped crying when he sat me down and calmed me, so now we were back on the path and walking to wherever it lead us.

"We'll get back to the main house as soon as we can," I promised him. "It's a Saturday, so there's no need to worry about getting back to Anubis in time."

He nodded, and for a while, we were both silent. Eddie's proclamation about being tired made me realize how tired I actually was; my eyes were starting to drift. I hadn't slept at all since I gave Mara her dream; and that was on Thursday night. I hadn't slept for over twenty-four hours.

"What are you thinking about?" Eddie asked, when I had been silent for a while.

I looked up from my hair, as I had been playing with it uncomprehendingly — I seemed to do that whenever I was caught up in my thoughts. "Do you think I was right to break up with Fabian?"

A look of confusion crossed his face. "Didn't Paul force you to break up with him?"

I bit my lip; I immediately knew I had said the wrong thing. I tried to continue walking, but Eddie wouldn't move his stubborn gaze from my face, so I confessed. "Okay, so I might have lied about the 'force' thing. Paul didn't really force me to. I chose to break up with him."

"Why?" Eddie asked, an incredulous look on his face. "Do you know how heartbroken he is? All he wants is for you to get out of here, safe and sound. He knows what you did to your arm." He took my arm and flipped it upside-down, showing the cut I'd made when I tried to kill myself. "He loves you and wants you back home. Now that you broke up with him..."

I blinked sadly, looking down at the dirt as we walked the trail. "I know. But I only want the best for him. It's probably what's best for him, anyway. I just don't want things to be awkward between us. Last year, things were always awkward because I thought he liked me, and then he accidentally asked Patricia out during Prom so I avoided him, and it was even awkward before that because we were friends, just being awkward people and —"

"He's scared that you broke up with him because you're going to do something to yourself."

I blinked, shocked by what Eddie had just said. "What?" I questioned, and Eddie nodded.

"He said he was there when you did that to your arm. I don't know if he's telling the truth or not, but he's obviously well informed about it, not to mention how much he cares about you. He thinks that you broke up with him so you didn't have to die knowing that you broke your boyfriend's heart and he was just your friend."

"That's not true," I said simply, the shock not truly leaving my face. "I mean...I was never going to do anything to myself. I mean — I just wanted him to be happy — this long distance wasn't really working — he'd be better off without the burden of having a girlfriend in another dimension — I don't know."

Eddie rolled his eyes with a faint smile on his face. I decided to cut my argument, and follow Eddie, to wherever we were going. For a couple of minutes, we kept to the path, until Eddie suddenly asked, "What's your favorite decade?"

It caught me off guard; I wasn't expecting him to ask me any questions involving history. Blinking, I turned to him and asked, "What?"

"Just wondering," he said simply. "I don't really know that much about you. Like, I don't know what your favorite color is. Or when your birthday is. Or what your favorite food is. Or what your favorite decade is."

I tried to hold back a laugh. I looked at him incredulously, but I wasn't going to leave his questions unanswered. "Well, my favorite color is purple. My birthday is July 7th. My favorite food would be anything Trudy cooks, really. And my favorite decade . . . I don't know, I guess the forties. What about you?"

I could see the smile on his face as he answered: "My favorite color is red. My birthday is November 21st. My favorite food is chocolate and my favorite decade is the 1910's."

"Well, I'll make sure to wish you a happy birthday when it happens in two days. Why are you asking me this, again?" I questioned, and Eddie started to laugh as well.

He shrugged. "Dunno. Just wondering. Figured the Chosen One and the Osirian should be able to get to know each other a little more." He was silent after that. The pathway seemed to go on forever, and neither one of us would speak until Eddie announced screamed, "GET BACK!" and pushed me away.

"Eddie, what the Hell?" I asked, being pushed further away from whatever he was protecting me from. I didn't get a good look at it, as his arm was blocking my view, but we moved a good hundred steps before Eddie released his grip of me, panting.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I just never thought . . . I didn't think place had . . . I — I just — Nina, you won't believe this."

"If you could remove your very big arm from my mouth," I muttered, my voice muffed by his shirt that was stuffed in my mouth, "I might be able to see it."

"Sorry," he apologized once again, and removed his arm from around my face, and I got the first glance of what he was talking about.

"Shit," I muttered, moving closer to what he had pushed me away from. It was a big cliff; when I leaned over the edge, I couldn't even see the bottom. "Yeah, Eddie, I didn't think this place had a cliff either. How do you think this got here?"

"Got here?" was Eddie's smart response to my question. "I think this place already had it. I don't know about you, but I think this place really exists."

"I don't think so," I retorted, sitting down on the dirt; my feet had been worn out from the long walk. Eddie followed my movements and sat down across from me, both on the edge of the cliff. I continued with: "Didn't you say you enter through some sort of portal here every day?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Through the warehouse."

"What warehouse?"

Eddie shrugged. "Dunno." It seemed a shrug and 'dunno' was his response to everything. "It's in the woods. These two people from Anubis followed me this one time — man, Nina, those people think they can follow me without me knowing, but I know it the second they oh-so-quietly close the front doors to Anubis House."

I had a lot of questions on the subject of the warehouse, but I narrowed my eyes and asked, "Who were the two people that followed you?"

Eddie repeated his usual answering means. Before I could complain, he said, "I honestly don't know their names. There's so many people in that house that I can't keep track of everyone. I think their names were . . . Melissa and Alexander? I have no idea."

"Mara and Alfie?" I took a wild guess, and Eddie snapped and pointed his finger at me, saying that I was right. With that information in mind, I decided to ask more questions. "Could you specifiy more on the warehouse?"

I had a bad feeling about the warehouse he was speaking about. Granted, there must have been thousands of warehouses in Liverpool, but with my luck, it would be the one that stored bad memories for us. In my first year, Rufus Zeno had trapped Patricia in there; and when Amber and I tried to save her, we got locked in there instead. It was where a lot of bad things happened, and I was sure that none of the Sibunas would ever want to see it again — our luck just got better and better by the minute.

Eddie bit his lip before describing the warehouse he entered in, confirming my suspicion. I ignored his questions of why I was interested in the warehouse and started to stand up, looking over the edge again.

"What _doesn't_ this place have?" I exclaimed. "A clearing...a meadow...a lake in the front courtyard...this is insane, Eddie." I grabbed his hand and hoisted him up from the ground. "I don't know what to do." Eddie smiled sadly and, once again, shrugged.

"I know this is a random subject change," I announced, "but what did you think of those two people in the burnt clearing? I know you saw two different people than I did, but I've already told you about my girls when you calmed me down. What did you see?"

He took a deep breath and said, "Well, I saw basically the same thing you did; myself ten years in the past, and myself ten years in the future. My younger self had his hair flat, not to mention how frigging chubby that kid was. I swear, my mother overfed me. The older one, well . . . he looked angry. Like something had been constantly bothering him for years and he couldn't take it anymore. His hands were balled into fists . . . he looked like he wanted to punch something . . . or some_one_." His shook his head. "I don't know. The older one started talking about the future and then I just zoned out."

But I could tell that he was hiding something. When he was calming me down after we left the clearing, I didn't tell him about the 'betrayal of a friend' thing, because I still had no idea, out of everyone I knew, who it could be.

"Come on," Eddie said, grabbing my hand and leading me farther away from the cliff. "Let's go find some more weird stuff this place has in store for us."

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

_"I've come undone, but you make sense of who I am; like puzzle pieces in your hand."_

**v v v**

* * *

><p>"Come Josephine, in my flying machine..." Eddie.<p>

"Going up she goes, up she goes!" Both of us.

"Balancing...there...something..." Eddie.

"Something with a bird on a beam..." Myself.

"In the air she goes!" Both of us, laughing at our mistake.

"Where?" Myself.

"There she goes!" Eddie.

"Up, up, a little bit higher! Oh! My! The moon is on fire..."

"Well," Eddie breathed, taking a breath from the song he had been teaching me, "Looks like we found something else."

"Looks like it," I confirmed, walking in front of Eddie to get a closer look at what we had just found. It was a tiny little shack, with a rusted, wrecked roof and tiling that was falling off. The door was swaying on its hinges.

"Are you scared?" he questioned, a smirk on his face. I laughed and shook my head. If I could survive my first week here without any fear, then I could handle this tiny shack that had probably been abandoned for decades. As Eddie took my hand as we walked in, there was finally confirmation that someone else had lived here before. Whether it had been thousands of years ago or a few months, someone had been in Shadowland before me.

I decided not to dwell on that as Eddie pushed the door open. We walked in hand-by-hand, opening up to a dusty, run-down foyer. The stairs to the right of us were torn up and wrecked; one step on them and we'd probably fall through the house and break our legs. Still gripping my hand, Eddie walked past the dusty foyer and into the common room of this shack.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it," he mumbled, carefully picking up a small item from the floor. I couldn't tell what it was, but apparently, neither could Eddie, as he tossed it back on the floor.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Someone had to have been here once. There's a couch... and a kitchen. Someone must have either been here or lived here in the past. We're not the first ones here, and neither is the Man in Red — who, we learned, only a few hours ago, was actually you."

"Yeah, yeah, we know, Nina, stop talking about it," Eddie waved my statement aside. I rolled my eyes with a small smile on my face, walking over to where Eddie was crouched.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, leaning over to see more closely.

"I — um — I think — oops."

Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, dust, and debris as Eddie did something _oops_ worthy. From all the cover, I couldn't see what had come out of what Eddie had opened, but I knew something had come in with the wind. I coughed as I wiped all the dirt from my eyes.

"Oh, God. Oh, God. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, crap." I heard Eddie curse as I wiped my eyes free of all the stinging dirt. I placed my hand on his arm, asking what was wrong, and then suddenly Eddie pointed further into the common room and I saw what he had released.

"Jesus Christ, Eddie, what did you do?" I asked incredulously. Eddie shook his head feverishly, moving closer to my side.

Inside the little shack, Eddie had released tons of spirits. They were floating around, like ghosts, taking shapes of humans, but thoroughly invisible and definitely not alive. The one and only Eddie Miller, the brave Osirian of the Chosen One had just awoken hundreds of dead, sleeping souls.

"Wonderful," I muttered under my breath. The released souls didn't seem to notice our presence, so I started to back away to the door. Eddie followed my movements and trailed by my side, but as soon as we reached the door, it was locked. "_Wonderful_!" I repeated, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

"Okay, there's no need to panic," Eddie finally announced, once he had stopped jiggling the knob in attempts to get us out. "Even though there's no possible way we can get out of here, we'll just wait.

"Eddie!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening in shock and disbelief. "Do you understand what Paul will do to us when he comes back to Shadowland later and sees we're not in the house? He could kill us!"

"Well, maybe if I tell him not to, he won't, because I'm sort of connected to him —"

"Oh, can it," I muttered under my breath. "We're gonna die today. Oh, I know we're going to die today." I sat down on the ground and placed my head in my hands. I couldn't believe this was happening; after everything we'd been through — after everything I'd put the Anubis residents through — this was how it ended. Paul would see I, nor Eddie, was in the house, and he'd find us and murder not just me, but Eddie as well. He'd only been in the UK for nineteen days and he would be killed.

"It's going to be fine," Eddie assured, sitting down on the ground next to me. "We'll get out of here. I swear."

"How?" I asked incredulously. Eddie smiled, pointed at me, and I watched him venture into the sea of souls. I narrowed my eyes, following him, but when he disappeared into a blur, I rolled my eyes.

As I sat down again, I could feel something familiar. I didn't know what is was, but I could feel a sense of familiarity somewhere around here. I pushed myself off the ground and looked around; the souls might have been invisible, but anyone could sense them in the air.

Yet, something felt familiar . . . like an old friend was here. I knew someone a long time ago, and they were here now. I didn't know or understand, but I pushed away the familiar feeling and waited for Eddie to return.

Unfortunately, I wasn't waiting for long, as he returned in a few minutes and began to drag me by the arm. I didn't even really have the capacity to complain — I was still wondering what the familiarity was and where it went — so I didn't really notice when we stopped running.

"Okay, this is how we're going to get out," he announced, pointing to the ground. By now, I was brought back to reality and focusing on what was important; which was getting out of here. As Eddie pointed to the bare, boarded, empty, no-way-out floor, I crossed my arms.

"You do realize that there's no escape from where you're pointing, right?" I tried to reason with him, as he was probably panicking and tried to find something, anything, that looked like a possible way out.

Instead of admitting he made a stupid mistake, Eddie laughed maniacally and pointed at me once again, telling me to wait a second. I did, and — who knew? — Eddie lifted up a floor board and showed me a narrow pathway out of here.

It was so narrow that we'd both have to crawl, but I didn't care, as long as it meant getting out of here. Eddie motioned for me to get down on my knees, and I followed him. He decided to crawl into the pathway first, and I followed him.

"How long is this tunnel?" I asked incredulously, crawling behind my partner in crime.

"I have no idea!" he retorted. "Don't ask me! I just found it! I didn't go into it beforehand and say 'Oh, it's three miles long. I should ask Nina how long she wants to crawl because if she doesn't want to crawl for that long I'll have to find another way out'. I just found an escape and took it! Now shut your cakehole."

"This is not going to be fun," I muttered under my breath, but since the pathway was so small it echoed around the tunnel.

"Well, do you want to get out?" Eddie retorted again, in an even more sarcastic voice than when he responded last time. "And stay with the souls for the rest of your lie?"

I sighed, moving my hands in front with my legs following. The tunnel didn't take any turns, so Eddie and I continued crawling forward. I could feel dust and other things — and I didn't particularly want to know what they were — crawl up on my clothes. I didn't know how to brush them off with the tiny space we had to move, so I just ignored the nuisances and kept crawling.

"Ugh, and and I'm getting dirt and grime all over my clothes!" I complained, trying to move faster; but as Eddie was in front of me, I could only move as fast as he could.

"Speak for yourself, _princess_," Eddie growled. "I'm in front. I have no idea where I'm going. I keep brushing away cobwebs and insects. Do you want to go in front?" He suggested, but once he turned around and saw how tight of a space we were in, he turned back around and continued crawling. "God, my clothes are getting _soaked_. Ugh. Ah! Oh, Nina, watch out for that big puddle coming up." Which I did.

"It's weird," he started, like we hadn't just been arguing for the past minute and a half. "We learned how to crawl when we were babies and we never stopped knowing how."

When I didn't respond, Eddie took that as a sign I was either tired of crawling or him, and he stayed quiet as well. We were silent for a while, but Eddie interrupted it by saying: "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes."

"Oh my God."

"Hey! That was in tune!" he laughed, crawling ahead of me. "She'll be coming 'round the mountain, she'll be comin' 'round the mountain, she'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes..."

"Good Lord."

"She'll be comin' 'round the mountain—"

"Okay, Eddie, enough of that. Can you see how much longer this tunnel is?" By now, my hands were starting to blister from all the pressure I was putting on them. I tried ignoring that factor and attempted to glance around Eddie's body, but I could barely see anything, thanks to the narrow and tiny crawl space.

"No, not really..." he murmured, craning his neck to look in further ahead. "I can't really see anything...AGH! Oh my Lord, I want to get out of this tunnel."

"You're not the one who's getting dirt and grime all over their clothes!"

"Yes, I am! I warned you about a puddle! I fell _into_ that puddle!"

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

_"Then I see your face; I know I'm finally yours. I find everything I thought I lost before. You call my name; I come to you in pieces so you can make me whole."_

**v v v**

* * *

><p>"Calm down."<p>

"I am calm."

"No you're not. Just take a deep breath. In. Out. That's it."

"Please tell me I'm dreaming."

"No, Nina, you're not. I'll pinch you if I have to. Just please listen to me. Focus on me. Look at me."

So I did. I could feel the tears, fresh on my face, but Eddie looked just as about as spooked as I did. He put his arm around my shoulders in an attempt to calm me down. "It'll be okay."

"No, it won't be okay!" I snapped. "How can I not be dreaming? They died when I was three, Eddie. _Three_. How...how is this possible?"

"I don't know, Nina. Just please, calm done. Take a deep breath. Count to ten. One..." Inhale. "Two..." Exhale. "Three..." Inhale. "Four..." Exhale.

It continued like that until my breathing was steady. I tore my gaze away from what I was looking at, because if I looked at the gravestones one more time, I'd probably go into hysterics. I wrapped my arms around Eddie's torso and he embraced me in the hug. "I don't understand how this is possible," I murmured into his shirt.

"Neither do I. Neither do I."

We had finally escaped the tunnel with some cuts and bruises, but we saw the dark night sky overhead of us once again. I was so glad to be out of that shack that I didn't notice what was sitting in front of us: two gravestones.

I didn't start freaking out until I saw the names on the gravestone. _Carol and Brain Martin. _My parents. My parents, who died thirteen years ago, the ones I'd visited in their graveyard near my house. Not here. _  
><em>

"I have to be imagining this," I said, to no one in particular. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening. _This can't be happening_."

The music was gone. By the time I reached the main entrance of Shadowand, Eddie had followed and the dream was complete. I didn't even know who I was sending a dream to, but someone was here and I was facing my main enemy.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I didn't even know how to end this chapter and it sucks so sorry bye. **

**I know the chapters have been kind of repetitive lately; but I felt like I needed to write this chapter in. But, I'm here to say that NEXT CHAPTER IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. It contains a lot of information and there's a big step towards the goal. I said the pace was going to move quicker; and in chapter 40, there's going to be a lot of progress.**

**What does the fortieth chapter contain, you may ask? Well, for one, Eddie confesses to Sibuna, there's two dreams, Amber and Fabian try to get into Shadowland, and the title of this fic finally comes into play! Sometime soon, all my dear readers, brace yourselves for the most exhilarating and heart-stopping chapter yet.**

**By the way, if you caught the Titanic reference, I will love you forever and the first person to guess what it was gets the next chapter (Read above to see how important the next chapter is) dedicated to them. (And, no, Paige, if you're reading this, you're not allowed to guess since you probably know what is since I've ranted to you about Titanic about 2867196734 times.)**

**All I ever really wanted in love was some cute Osirian/Chosen One protection moments in season 3, but I didn't get that so I'm making up for it in Don't Be Afraid. Grumble grumble...**

**I also have a new poll up on my profile; I was wondering when the fans started watching House of Anubis, so I started a poll; if you could take two seconds out of your day, could you possibly click the link to my profile and vote to which year/season you started watching the show? It'd be a great help! Thanks again. xx**

**Remember: _there's a guaranteed update next week._**

**Hasta luego y espero tiene día brillante!  
>-Julianna<strong>


	40. Do Not Be Afraid

**A/N: Happy July, everyone! I hope everyone's summer is going great!**

**Ah, how I love being the author of a mystery fic. It's so fun to see others grasp for answers on the unanswered questions and create theories on things that don't even exist. I can't wait for the chapter that actually sums everything up — you guys'll be so surprised — and HAHAHAHA I KNOW WHAT CHAPTER THEY'RE GOING TO RESCUE NINA IN AND _YOU DON'T_! (Note to Paige and Amber: You better not give it away.)**

**Anyhow, this is the longest chapter so far with over 9,300 words, so I hope you enjoy what I put together for you: the most important chapter yet!**

* * *

><p><em>"It's Nina," Trudy answered. "...she's missing."<em>

* * *

><p><strong>1018/11**

"Now, the Egyptians believed if you mummified a human being..."

Mr. Winkler was talking about a lesson that would normally interest me, but the only thing that interested me at the moment was Nina.

She'd gone missing yesterday. Just like that. Poof. No evidence as to where she'd gone at all. Anubis House had spent all night yesterday searching around the campus with no luck. She was missing.

Mr. Winkler had asked her to stay after school, and that was the last time I'd seen her. I'd tried calling her, texting her, and I'd even resorted to Skyping her; anything to get in touch with her. She couldn't have vanished like that. She just couldn't have. There was no way she could be missing.

I didn't even try to sleep last night. My best friend and my girlfriend was missing, and there was no clues as to where she'd gone. She might as well be dead than running around the woods, lost with no sense of direction.

"Fabian? Are you okay?" Amber whispered, sitting next to me. I nodded, but I was miles away from being okay. I was so distressed and unkempt that Victor actually wanted to keep me home from school. Nina couldn't be gone. She wasn't gone. She was playing a cruel trick on us and we'd come home to see Nina sitting on the couch in the common room. She had planned a prank with Alfie and Jerome. She wasn't missing. She wasn't dead.

I was to be proved wrong in three days' time.

* * *

><p><em>'Amber took one step forward, and then screeched. I looked at her, and she was holding up a chain with an attachment at the end. The attachment was glowing a vibrant red. With horror, I recognized the necklace.<em>

_It was Nina's locket.'_

* * *

><p><strong>1019/11**

"_Tell_. _Me_. _The_. _Truth_."

I held Nina's locket in my palm, for Alfie and Jerome to see. For the past two days, Nina had been missing. There was no clues as to where she might be, but Alfie and Jerome didn't look the least bit bothered by their fellow Housemate's disappearance.

I had kind of thought that Alfie and Jerome were playing the Prank of a Lifetime on us, and Nina was involved with it; maybe she was sitting in an abandoned shed somewhere and would come through the door at any minute, high-fiving the two pranksters.

Amber and I couldn't handle it anymore. Nina had been gone for two days now, and there hadn't been hide or hair of her. We decided that we'd look around a bit more, possibly even venture into the woods; Sibuna _had_ gone in there a lot. We'd checked every place we could find; even the warehouse, where Patricia was taken when she was captured by Rufus after the play.

She was nowhere to be found. It was like she just fell of the face of the Earth. And even if she _was_ missing...she'd have surely have contacted _us_, _Sibuna_, her _friends_.

Amber and I were just about to give up hope that Nina was even alive when she'd stepped on the locket. I didn't know what it was at first; Amber was too busy screaming and jumping up and down; whether in fear or excitement, I didn't know. I'd told Amber to cut it out and got the first look at Nina's locket.

I was now holding it in front of Alfie and Jerome, trembling in rage. I knew they were pranksters...but would they go this far, as to put her locket in the woods? Was that necessary?

"I'm telling you, Fabian," Jerome stated, his hands out in front of him, persuading me not to pounce on him. "We've told you that Alfie and I have _nothing_ to do with Nina's disappearance. Absolutely _nothing_. We didn't put her locket in the woods."

"I..." I began to stutter, cursing myself; but I continued to talk. "You have to swear on something...then I'll believe you. Swear...swear on Alfie's life." I knew how distressed Jerome was when Alfie was in shock after he'd seen Jason's initiation down in the cellar.

"I swear on Alfie's life," he said each word very slowly, so I could hear him. His blue eyes were full of such intensity and promise that I knew he didn't do it. I sighed and gripped the locket tighter, feeling my fingernails digging into my skin.

If Alfie and Jerome didn't have anything to do with Nina's disappearance...then who did? What happened to Nina?

* * *

><p><em> "Look, everyone . . . has <em>anyone_ ever thought about _calling_ her?"_

* * *

><p><strong>1020/11**

The first ring came and went.

That was fine. The call probably wasn't even transferred on the first ring. No one picked up on the first ring.

The second ring came and went.

The call was transferred onto her phone by now, but the rings meant that her phone was on and alive. It either meant that Nina was ignoring the call for reasons unknown, or she didn't even have her phone with her. Neither options were good, but the choice that Nina was voluntarily ignoring us didn't make me feel any better.

The third ring came and went.

It kept ringing. Nina wasn't picking up the phone and begging for help, because someone took her from the side of the road and she was locked in his basement. The phone rang until the sixth ring came and went, and we heard her voice.

"Hi! This is Nina, and I'm probably not here right now, so leave your number, the date and time, and I'll get back to you. Thanks!"

Her voicemail.

I heaved a great sigh, not knowing what to do with that information. Nina had been missing for three days, and we hadn't had one word out of here or her whereabouts. It was proving to be suspicious, and we hadn't had word from Rufus or the teachers or anyone else who would want to take the Chosen One. There was no clues as to where she was, and that made me feel even worse.

I threw my phone down onto the bed with a groan, running my fingers through my hair. Nina was still missing; her phone was on; and she was somewhere where we couldn't find her, and I couldn't help her. I promised that I'd never give up on her last year, and I wasn't about to break that promise now.

I'd find Nina Martin, if it was the last thing I ever did.

* * *

><p><em>"They found Nina's body!"<em>

* * *

><p><strong>1021/11**

There were no words to describe what I was feeling.

While everyone else was trying to get Amber up off the floor, I was standing in one spot, trying not to keep from falling down.

The girl who had been missing for a week was dead. Gone. Nina Martin now ceased to exist. I'd never get to see her again, to talk to her, to touch her again. My girlfriend was dead.

No one noticed me. Amber was bawling on the floor; her best friend was dead. Amber would see her be lowered into the ground in a coffin. Amber's best friend was dead. My girlfriend was dead.

I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest. Nina Martin was dead. She was gone. I didn't know how to process that sentence correctly; Nina was strong. Probably one of the strongest people I'd ever known. She'd surrendered to death and not given it the middle finger like I'd expected she would. It was too much to process and I didn't even want to process it.

I didn't even know if I was crying or not. A million and one thoughts were running through my mind and I couldn't sort through them. Alfie was rubbing Amber's back in circles, trying to calm her down, but her mascara was running freely down her face, making her look like a raccoon. Patricia, tough Patricia Williamson who never cried, even when her father died last year, was crying right now. Her fellow Sibuna member was dead. There was no joke this time. Jerome and Alfie weren't playing a joke on us.

So it was true. We'd been denying it for a week now, but it was growing hard to believe that Nina would ever return. We'd all believed it was a joke at first; Nina wasn't missing. She'd return in a day or two. She was visiting her Gran, or something. She'd come back. We'd see her again.

I never thought the next time I'd see her would be in a coffin.

She was dead. She was gone. Ended. Stopped. Finished. Terminated. Ceased.

Poof.

* * *

><p><strong>1217/11**

"Get over it, Fabian."

I narrowed my eyes at the girl who had just spoken to me. Patricia, sitting across from me in the common room, had heard me talking about Nina to Amber. It had almost been two months since she died, but I still wasn't fully recovered from her death. Her funeral had been on November 1st, and I'd seen my girlfriend being lowered into the ground in a coffin, her body unmoving and still.

I don't even think you could describe Amber on the night of her funeral without Amber breaking down and crying again. Amber had been such a mess that I actually had to pull her aside into a closet and we'd cried over Nina together until Trudy found us and comforted us both.

When we'd come out of the closet we were in, Amber's mascara was smeared all over her face and her eyes were a vicious, blood red. I didn't look so good myself; tears were most likely covering my cheeks and my eyes were probably the same color as Amber's. Her funeral was something the Anubis residents didn't talk about.

"Why should I get over it?" I questioned, sitting up straighter and looking Patricia straight in the eye. "Nina was my first girlfriend. She was my best friend. Why should I get over it? How would you react if Eddie suddenly died?"

Eddie Miller was the person who had replaced Nina. It was weird, having one extra boy in the house, but Patricia seemed fine with it, as she had been dating the boy for almost a month. Their relationship had started off rocky, but they'd made it work.

She sucked in a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry, Fabian. I know you're still upset over her death. We are too. We were her friends."

Alfie weakly laughed, and announced, "Trixie, this reminds me of when you were all distressed over Joy's disappearance. You blamed Nina. I guess Nina's disappearance could be compared to Joy's...except that Joy didn't die..."

"Don't remind us, Alfie," Amber growled, burying her face in the pillow that was resting next to her. Amber was as, possibly even more, distressed as I was about this whole thing. If you said that the amount of crying that happened between me and the blonde during the funeral was a lot, you didn't see anything until the day after that.

One day after the funeral, Amber came pounding on my door in the middle of the night and was screaming that she didn't want to sleep in her room. I understood; Nina's bed, still full of her belongings, was sitting all alone with no occupant. Amber woke the entire House up with her sobs, and even though we tried to persuade her to go back to her room, she wouldn't budge.

I explained Amber's reasoning to Trudy, and our House Mother was understanding. She let Amber sleep in Patricia and Mara's room for the night, but I knew that Amber had slept in their room, on the floor, every night since the funeral. Amber loved her best friend, and she and I were left alone without her.

Today marked two months since she first disappeared. Nina had been gone for 57 days; 57 days since we got the call from the police and under everyone's nose, gone back to my room and cried. I loved Nina, and she'd died. I'd told her that I wouldn't give up on her, and when she was missing, I hadn't looked for her at all.

I had failed her.

* * *

><p><strong>823/12**

_It's the things you do for me._

_It's the way you make me feel._

I hit the brakes suddenly, making me thrash forward onto the steering wheel. My chest started throbbing, but I ignored the physical pain and focused on the emotional one.

I'd heard the first lyric and immeadietly knew what song was playing on the radio as I drove back to my parents' house in the new car they'd bought me for my birthday. The street I lived in wasn't a busy street, so there were no cars smashing into me from the rear end.

_It's everything you are;_

_You're my shining star,_

_No matter where you are._

It was the song Nina and I danced to at our prom. The song we'd had our first kiss too.

It had been ten months since she died, and nine months since the funeral. Almost a year, and I'm still not over her. Her death had been so distressing to me, so heartbreaking, that I didn't want to believe she'd died. Nina had disappeared in the snap of a finger with no explanation whatsoever and four days later she'd died. One word to describe that week was _sudden_.

I hadn't kissed anyone, much less had another girlfriend, since she died. Nina was my first kiss and the first person I'd ever really loved. I'd fallen for her so hard during the summer, even though we were five thousand miles apart, her being in California and me being in Liverpool. When she'd returned, I'd been the happiest I'd been in three months, and we'd survived as a happy couple for the first two months of the school year.

That is, until she disappeared. She was missing for a week, before the police found her body and I was forced to watch her go into the ground in a coffin. She was the first girl I'd ever fallen for.

_And now you're in my life;_

_I feel the strength inside;_

_No mountain seems too high, no river seems to wide;_

_And now you're by my side._

I was close to crying by now. My head was on the dashboard of my car, trying not to listen to the lyrics. Right now, I'd been asking where Nina was before she came back as we stood with our arms around each other; we'd been named Prom King and Prom Queen. But that didn't matter anymore. Nina was dead.

She'd been dead since the call came into Anubis House and Amber broke down sobbing on the floor, while I'd gone into my room to cry. I didn't think she'd give up so easily. She was Nina; she was strong. She'd given up the fight too quickly and I wasn't expecting it.

They released that she'd died of a gun shot wound. Some psycho rapist had kidnapped her and kept her for a week, then had no use for her anymore so he shot and killed her. She couldn't have done anything to save herself. Who knows what happened to her during the week she was taken...if she was alive right now, I wouldn't doubt she'd be having nightmares.

I didn't have a girlfriend anymore. There wasn't anyone to solve the mysteries of the House with after he death; the Chosen One wasn't there when we first discovered the tunnels and had to go through them by ourselves, without the help of Nina. We'd learned that Eddie was the Osirian, the born protector of the Chosen One; it explained why he felt so sad during her funeral, when he didn't even know her. He was literally brought into this world to protect her.

But Eddie would never feel as bad as I did. I loved Nina, and she wasn't here anymore. She'd been dead for ten months. She wasn't coming back, and I knew that. The realization finally hit me two days after my seventeenth birthday that Nina wasn't coming back and even though she died, the mysteries of Anubis House wouldn't stop. She just wouldn't be there anymore.

_You're the best thing in my life._

_You give me my perfect day._

* * *

><p><strong><em>.<em>**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>  
><strong>Saturday, November 19th, 2011<strong>

And then I woke up.

Or, woke up in the dreams, perhaps. I wasn't in my bedroom. Mick and Eddie weren't snoring in their beds. I wasn't shot up to see my surroundings. It wasn't a dream . . . it was more like a nightmare.

But I wasn't in my bedroom. I was in Shadowland, the place where Nina has been trapped for a month. I wasn't done with the dream yet. Whether or not that had just happened — that Nina still was alive, in here, sending us dreams — I wasn't sure.

"Hello?" I called out, but everything was dark; it was like all the light had been sucked out. If you can imagine New York City in a complete blackout, that's kind of what Shadowland looked like at that moment. "Is anyone here?" I yelled into the darkness, but my yelling didn't prove any good.

Then I heard laughing. I turned in circles, trying to find the source of the laughing. It sounded familiar, yet I couldn't place who it belonged to — it was evil, evil . . . horribly evil —

"Ah, Fabian Rutter," the same voice who had laughed spat in my face. "Nina's little boyfriend. Or, should I say, _ex_-boyfriend."

Someone walked into the light — even though there was very little light at this moment — and I saw someone I never would have expected. Instead of the Man in Red (but apparently Nina had renamed him Paul), who I was expecting, Eddie Miller walked into the light.

I knew he had something to do with Nina, but he couldn't have been the one who had kidnapped her. He had come to Liverpool a few _weeks_ after Nina was originally taken. He wasn't the person who had scared us to death on Halloween night. It definitely wasn't Eddie who had kidnapped Nina, so why was he here in Shadowland?

But then I realized; his eyes were red. Eddie's real eye color was something like dark green/hazel . . . and the last time someone had red eyes was Nina, on Halloween night . . .

Eddie laughed without humor. I couldn't process that that laugh, the one I had winced and cringed at so many times, was Eddie's laugh — but if his eyes were red...? — this was all so confusing. But before I could ask any questions, Eddie interrupted me. "Figuring it out, eh? It took you long enough. I just figured you should see what your precious life would have been if I had the nerve to kill her long before now."

"Did you kill her?" I whispered, my voice shaking. Mara and Alfie had told me that Eddie was Nina's Osirian, her protector — he would never hurt her. Not in a million years. What the hell was he doing right now? "You're . . . you're not Eddie . . . you — you couldn't have killed her —"

"Oh, no, I didn't," Eddie's very distinguishable voice explained, crossing his arms, his red eyes staring into my blue ones. "I didn't kill her. I was just imagining what it would be like to kill her — which would be amazing to do, by the way — but no, I didn't kill her. I just thought you should see _why_ I thought of killing her today."

This was a nightmare. This wasn't a dream that Nina was sending us. This was a nightmare and I needed to wake up. I tried pinching myself, punching myself, shaking myself, but nothing worked. When I opened my eyes, I was still faced with my roommate in front of me, his red eyes shining in the dull lights of Shadowland.

"Oh, Fabian," he said sweetly. "There's nothing you can do to stop this." Then the lights of Shadowland flickered back on; but all the greens of the forest, the blues of the lakes, the browns of the house in front of me turned blank.

...Everything turned black and white.

"What is this?" I questioned, turning in a circle; I could see Shadowland now, even though everything was black and white, but everything still looked the same. Nothing looked touched since I last saw it. "Nina?" I called out, hoping to all hell that she would come running from the back of the house and crash into my arms.

But when I turned around to yell at Eddie, he wasn't there. I knew it in my soul that it wasn't Eddie, my roommate, but someone else entirely; I couldn't even try to make the real Eddie escape this copy. I didn't know if the Man in Red would drop Eddie like he did with Jason, but I still didn't understand how Eddie was the bad guy here. I honestly didn't believe he was the culprit, or the kidnapper, or anyone who could have been the villain.

I was about to yell for Eddie, instead, when I finally saw him, in black in white, straight in front of me. He was talking to someone . . . as I moved to my left, I saw that the person he was talking to was Nina.

I wanted to yell out to her, but then I remembered that this was a memory; she wouldn't be able to hear me. I was experiencing something that happened in the past. Eddie — or whoever he really was — was telling me why he wanted to kill Nina in the first place, even though she was still alive.

"I'm not scared of you," Nina murmured, backing away from Eddie, who was drawing closer and closer to her. After knowing that Eddie was her protector, which she had to have known for a few weeks now, she must have been terrified of her friend, who was now closing in on her, trying to kill her. Or maybe she didn't even know it was Eddie, sneering like a lion, ready to pounce on its prey. "You can't scare me."

I had to hold myself back from yelling and running out to them. This wasn't Eddie Miller. It couldn't be. Eddie may be annoying, a git, and confusing as all hell, but he would never hurt a fly. "Oh, I can, and I will," Eddie hissed. I saw Nina take a step back, but Eddie followed her. "You think you're so brave, standing up to me, but you'll never be brave. I know how you are."

Then I realized that he was going to hit her. Maybe kick her, push her, but Eddie was going to do something to his protectee, and he wasn't supposed to. I already knew this wasn't Eddie, but if Eddie would _spy_ on us for someone he knew for two weeks, he would never, _ever_ hurt her. This _wasn't_ Eddie. The black and white setting only made it more dreary.

"I know you, and I know everyone else, too. They don't care about you. All they care about is getting you out of here so they can finish the search and don't have to worry about you sending dreams anymore. Fabian doesn't even want to see you anymore."

"That's not true!" I screamed, but as it was a memory and happened in the past, neither Eddie, nor Nina heard me. My heart was starting to pound because I knew what was about to come. "Nina! No! It isn't true!"

"Yes, he does," Nina responded, almost as if she could hear me; but I knew that wasn't true. There was no way on Earth any person could change things in the past. The look on Nina's face showed doubt; was she actually thinking I didn't care about her? "I know he does. We — we were best friends last year when we looked for the Cup on Ankh. Of course he cares about me."

"You keep thinking that," Eddie muttered, wearing a sickening smirk. I wanted to punch it right off his face. "No one really wants you back. What makes you think they do? Whenever you escape, without a cut or a bruise, you really think they'll forgive you for putting them through hell and back? If there's one thing those stupid Anubis residents want, is for this whole fiasco to end. It would _so_ much easier if I could kill you now." Eddie's eyes, now a bright red, flared with anger and anticipation.

"Well, _I_ want this to end too," she retorted, "but _someone_ is holding me captive."

Ah, there she was; good old Nina with her sarcastic retorts.

Eddie's eyes flashed again and he took a step closer to her. "Maybe I should. I wouldn't have to worry about you, and neither would that git of a boyfriend you have. Or, _ex_-boyfriend. I don't know why you blame me for making you break up with him . . . that was all _you._"

When she didn't answer, Eddie continued. "You are nothing to him. He's had plenty of friends before you. I bet you didn't even know that he had a girlfriend before you?"

"I didn't! He's messing with your head!" I yelled, but to no avail. We were still inside a memory.

"Fabian had a girlfriend. And before he came here, he had plenty of friends. You are nothing to him, you stupid git. _I_ should have made you break up with him instead of you. You think he cares about you, but he doesn't. He wants this whole fiasco to end, and so I do. Maybe I should kill you right now. Be better for Fabian _and_ for me . . . kill two birds with one stone . . ."

Eddie, laughing, walked closer to Nina. The last thing I heard was her screaming.

...

And then color returned.

The memory was over. I could still her scream in the back of my mind . . . she was either dead or in pain . . . Nina . . .

"Nina!" I yelled out, hoping for an answer. I wished she wouldn't believe that what Eddie was saying to her was true, because it wasn't. It was kind of like he was a jealous onlooker and was trying to break us up so he could have Nina for the taking. I didn't have a girlfriend before her (I could barely get a friend of the opposite sex before Nina came), I didn't have plenty of friends (All I had was Patricia and Joy), and I wanted this fiasco to end so I could see my girlfriend in real life and not in a dream for once, as we had been doing for the past month.

There was no answer. I realized I was in the house; the house that Nina and I had explored once. I told Amber to map out the entire house. I knew this place like the back of my hand.

I held my breath as I looked for where Nina could be. I checked her room — she wasn't there — so I checked the kitchen — she wasn't there either. I finally found her standing, straight up, in one of the rooms to the left of the kitchen.

She was breathing steadily, but I could see her chest moving up and down. It didn't look like she had any bruises or cuts . . . maybe Eddie didn't do anything to her? I highly doubted that, but my mind might have been playing with me right then.

I could feel relief course through me. "Nina," I breathed, moving closer to where she was standing. Just when I thought we would hug for the first time in a few weeks (it had been 11 days since my last dream, when she broke up with me), Nina back-stepped.

I narrowed my eyes. "Nina . . .?" I questioned, but Nina didn't answer. Her eyes were the size of tennis balls.

That's when I realized. Maybe Eddie didn't hurt her _physically_. He could have hurt her worse _verbally_.

That was worse. I could help fix physical wounds; but I could never fix verbal ones. Depending on what Eddie told her about me, I could be the villain in Nina's eyes for years to come. I'd never be able to help her because it was all in her head.

"Nina . . ." I murmured, almost to myself. "Nina, it's okay. It's just me."

I took a step closer to her, but she took a step further away. A confused look crossed over my face; I took another step closer, and she took another step away.

"No," Nina muttered, the first word I heard out of her mouth in eleven days. "No. Get away."

With every word she spoke, my heart broke a little more. She didn't want me around. Fabian. Her best friend. Her boyfriend. _She didn't want me around_. She wanted me gone. Eddie messed with her head, and now she'd never look at me the same way ever again or smile at me and say how much she loved that little smile I got when I concentrated.

"Nina, it's okay," I said, but our cycle continued, with me taking another step closer and her taking another step further. I wanted to get closer to her, but I didn't want to scare her. That would just make her trust me less.

"No," she uttered, a bit louder this time so I could hear her clearly. "Please. Go away."

I held up my hands, saying I wouldn't hurt her even if I wanted to, but I didn't know if Nina comprehended that, because she continued to walk away, further from me; distancing herself from me.

"It's oka—" I tried to comfort her, but then her voice became louder.

"GO AWAY!" she screamed, and I saw the tears come pouring. She wanted me to leave, and I was harassing her. I knew that was the last thing I wanted to do, but I had to convince Nina she was safe with me. Eddie messed with her head, and I had to fix it.

"Nina," I breathed, my hands still up, walking closer and closer to her still."It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Please listen to me. _I would never hurt you_."

But tears were still sliding down her face, breaking my heart with every step she took away from me. "PLEASE! JUST GO AWAY!" she walked on, backing away, until she hit a wall. She seemed to notice that there was nowhere else to go, and her eyes widened again and she slid down the wall.

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!" she screamed again, but with my hands up in the air, I disobeyed her orders and crouched down to be down to her level.

Nina closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see me, but I carefully placed my hands around her face. I didn't know why — maybe she recognized the touch — but she didn't cringe away like I thought she would. "Shhh," I soothed, my hands cradling her face, stroking her cheek with my thumb in an attempt to calm her down. I'd never be able to live with myself if she didn't trust me.

"It's okay," I said. Her eyes were still closed, but she seemed to be enjoying my touch. "Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. I would never hurt you. It's okay. We'll get you out of here. I promise."

"You promise?" she murmured, slowly opening her eyes. She met my gaze for the first time in almost two weeks, and I couldn't be happier. It might be hard making her trust me again, but she met my eyes, and that was the first step. Her voice was small.

"I promise," I said, looking straight into her bloodshot eyes. I wanted to stay and help her for longer, but since Nina wasn't the person who sent the dream in the first place, I was taken away from my ex-girlfriend and back to Anubis House.

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Sunday, November 20th, 2011;<strong> **10:00 AM**

"I've decided to start a club," Patricia announced as she walked back into Amber's bedroom. "A No-Dreams Club. Just you and me, Fabian, since everyone else is getting dreams!" she yelled bitterly.

But everyone else, crowded around in Amber and Nina's bedroom, didn't seem to notice her. Before, I had explained what happened in the dream I had — the dream that Nina didn't send — and everything in it: Eddie's red eyes, the memory, and how Nina was backing away from me. Patricia took my story as a sign I was never getting a dream ever again, so she ran downstairs and grabbed a clipboard.

"No thanks, Patricia," I said, a smug look crossing over my face. I didn't explain to her, but I figured that after I had calmed her down, I'd be getting more dreams, even though that one was the first one I had in eleven days after Nina broke up with me.

She groaned and threw the clipboard onto Amber's bed. Patricia, Amber, and I were sitting on her bed; Alfie, Mara, Jerome, and Joy were sitting on Nina's bed and Mick was sitting on the floor.

"Mara, Alfie . . . any new information that we don't know?" I asked. Alfie gritted his teeth in guilt and Mara shook her hand, saying "Eh."

I exclaimed, "What do you mean, 'eh'? You're the two Seekers! You're supposed to know everything!"

"Don't ask us!" Alfie defended, but before I could complain further, he took the liberty to speak. "Look, we know as much as you do right now. All we know is that Eddie enters Shadowland every night through the warehouse—the same warehouse that Rufus locked Patricia in last year and where Nina and Amber were trapped for like two hours before you came and saved them."

I gave a small smile, but Mara continued his speech. "We know what you know. We're trying to find out something new, trust me, but Eddie didn't leave for Shadowland last night and we don't know why."

After that, Sibuna remained silent. Amber was toying around with her nails; Mara and Alfie struck up a silent conversation. Jerome was occasionally stealing glances, trying to decipher what they were saying. Mick was alone, playing with his nails; and I was left there to stare at the walls. With everyone in Sibuna not saying a word, Patricia considered that the best time to begin her argument.

"All I'm saying," she began, and we all knew we were in for a long rant from Patricia Williamson, "is that I haven't gotten a dream yet. Nina's been missing for over a month; she's been gone for thirty-four days! She's had thirty-four opportunities to send us dreams, and how many has she given?"

I answered, "

"Exactly. Thirty-four days and she's only used _ of those days to send dreams. Why doesn't she do it more often? I can understand why she gives you dreams, Fabian; you were her best friend and boyfriend. And Amber—even though you two had a falling-out for a little while, she still gave you a dream! Like, that isn't fair! True, I was a little cruel to her in the beginning of the year, but that was because I thought she murdered Joy! Now I know she's alive, obviously, as she's sitting right next to me, but you couldn't blame me for thinking that way! I'm Nina's friend now; why isn't she giving me a dream? Like, she's given Jerome and Alfie a dream, and she wasn't even all that close to Jerome. Next thing you know, Mara's getting a dream! Who's next? _Mick_? Certainly not me!"

I could see Jerome and Alfie trying to hold in their laughs. I just shrugged, having no idea how to respond to that situation; but I heard Patricia mutter under her breath, "God, this makes me so angry. All I really want is a dream. Maybe I should just go to Shadowland myself and get her out of there right now. I mean, we _do_ know where it is . . ."

"What's Shadowland, again?" Joy asked, and with a deep sigh, I explained. After telling her the story of how it was an alternate dimension, a sort of prison, I figured it would be best to go over everything we had. Nina always asked me to keep track of everything, after all.

"Okay," I said, clapping my hands together, addressing the whole group. I remembered how, on the first day of November, I asked Sibuna that if I didn't want to be leader by December first, then they'd have to recruit someone new; but now, I was ready to take liberty to be the leader. It was funny how things changed after time. "I feel like we should go over everything we know, just to make sure we have everyting. After all, we might figure something out from what we have."

I grabbed the Dream Log from under Amber's bed; Mara was the last one to write an entry, two days ago, after she'd had her first dream.

"Okay. We don't know _much,_ but we do know some things. Like how the entrance to Shadowland is the warehouse; I'm still confused about that, but I guess we can go check it out. Is anybody up for exploring the warehouse with me?"

The only hand raised was Amber's. I smiled at her and said, "Alright, so Amber and I will check out the warehouse later. We know that Shadowland is an alternate dimension; however you get in there from the warehouse, it can't be easy. Next, we know Nina's locket is a signal for if she's alive or dead, but I don't think that will help us much here because I know how strong Nina is." I had to remind myself about how strong she was and the dream I had where she died was only a dream. "All right. We also know that Mara and Alfie are Seekers, Amber's the One Who Can See, Patricia's the One Who Can Hear, Jerome's the Healer, and the rest of us are normal people. Well, except for Mick. He can _sometimes_ transport to Shadowland, but apparently not on days that end with _y._" I joked. Mick smiled.

"What else do we know? We know that Nina's trapped there. We know we have to get her out. We know that Eddie is somehow involved with Nina, but we're not entirely sure how or why."

"Do you want to know why?" A voice asked. All of Sibuna's heads turned around to see Eddie Miller, leaning in the doorway.

I was silent. I didn't know how to process Eddie's sentence, much less respond to it. But Eddie continued, "Because I will tell you. Right now. Do you want to know?"

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p>"What's a Riguna?"<p>

"Sibuna," I corrected.

"Yeah, whatever," Eddie waved my correction aside. "I'm here to explain, not to become part of your scooby gang. Just leave me here to explain and I'm on my way."

"Why do you want to explain if you don't want to be on our side?" Amber questioned, and I was thinking the same thing.

"Look, I—" he began to explain his actions, but Eddie caught himself immediately. "All I'm going to do is explain why I came here, my connection to Nina, and what I'm doing this for, et cetera."

Everyone was silent, waiting for him to explain; finally, Eddie took a deep breath and began.

"To clear things up, I wasn't just outside your door accidentally. Yes, I was spying. Yes, it was for the Man in Red. Nina and I learned that the Man in Red is actually me — because I was being the ultimate bad boy back in America, my mom sent me here to 'cleanse my actions', but now I know it was because if I didn't protect Nina, she would die at my hand. The Man in Red is me; it's my bad side, and my bad side escaped when I committed the crime I did before I was shipped off here.

"It's all really confusing. I don't know if you all know this or not, but I'm predicting you know Nina's the Chosen One? Yes? I'm her Osirian; the Chosen One's born protector. Because I'm her protector, the Man in Red is kind of like her Harmer . . . or her Persecutor . . . or something. Whatever. If I don't protect her, I failed my job and I'd be punished by the gods for that.

"So, to protect her I have to spy on you guys for the Man in Red — who's actually myself — yeah, I know, I was confused at first too — but it's simple if you think about it. I was born to protect her — the Man in Red is my opposite so he was born to destroy her. I'm sick and tired of spying on you guys, so I figured we could just work together on this. Deal?"

"How can we trust you?" Patricia butted in, her eyes alight with fire; they always got that look when she found a new person to interrogate. "You've betrayed us before."

"Yes, Yacker," Eddie sneered — it seemed Eddie had given her a new nickname — "how can you trust me? You've followed me enough times to know where I go and what I do. If _Fabian_, Nina's _boyfriend,_ trusts me, why shouldn't you?"

"Because you're a lying, scheming, sneaking, dirty little cockroach—"

"Okay!" I hated to interrupt a budding romance, but I was trying not to get everyone into a fight. "Well, Eddie, I'm with Patricia here; I don't know if we can trust you, but we certainly need you here. To answer your previous question, Sibuna's our club; Nina, Amber, and I made it last year when we were trying to find the missing pieces of the Cup of Ankh, but that's not the point. Right now, our main mission is to get Nina out of there and back here and after that to pretend like nothing ever happened. We need you on our side, so you'll have to swear that you won't betray our trust."

Eddie opened his mouth to begin his speech, but Jerome interrupted him. "Wait! If Eddie here goes into Shadowland every day, why can't he just take us with him, we can take Nina with us as we leave and then BOOM! Everything is settled and over with."

"I wish it was that simple, Jerry," Eddie explained — Jerome didn't look too happy with the mention of his nickname — but Eddie continued. "Paul monitors, like, everything. If I was to take a _juicebox_ into Shadowland with me, he'd know. You all know where the entrance to Shadowland is — the warehouse — but I can't tell you anything. If he were to find out you knew where the entrance was . . . well, it wouldn't be good for me, Nina, or any of you guys, either. I'm just here to say _I'm on your side_. I'll be fighting with you, not against you. I promise."

"Well, all right," I said, looking down at my hands. "We'll try to get along with you." I shot Amber a look. "Amber, do you want to . . ." I couldn't say it in front of our new recruit, because he'd try to stop us, but it's not like Paul would care if we did some snooping.

"Oh! Yes!" Amber exclaimed, jumping off the bed and following me out the door. We left Eddie with the rest of Sibuna, leaving Patricia to bond with her future husband.

Let's be honest, everyone could see it happening.

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p>"Why do I feel like we've been here before?" Amber asked as we climbed over bushes and shrubs.<p>

"That's because we have," I exclaimed, running in front of her into the clearing. "It was the second day after Nina's disappearance. I was so stressed over her going missing that I stormed out of the house, determined to find her. You came with me — I still remember you had the _worst_ case of hiccups — and we thought that Rufus might have made a return and kidnapped her, so we checked out the warehouse, but she wasn't there."

"I don't understand," Amber complained, following me until she reached my side. "If we checked here, and she wasn't there . . . how could this be the entrance to Shadowland?"

I shrugged, and didn't say anything after that. I lifted the huge lock that led into the warehouse, held the door open for Amber, and reluctantly, she climbed in.

"I don't like it here . . ." she muttered, walking along beside me. It had been over a month since we had been here last, and spiders had definitely used their time to their advantage; cobwebs and spiderwebs lined every wall. Amber was hiding her face in my back, but I didn't care. She'd always been easily frightened.

"It's all right, Amber," I tried to soothe, looking around for anything that might have been an entrance to Shadowland. "It's obvious that Rufus emptied this place before he, like, died or something, because all there are is boxes."

"Don't tell me we have to open the boxes!"

"Well, I don't know!" I shot back. "I mean, I doubt Eddie climbs into a box everyday, but you never know. We'll have to check."

"Oh, this is horrible. I just bought these shoes and they're one of my favorites! If I step on a spider or something I will scream."

"You'll attract attention!"

"I don't care!" she retorted. "I hate getting dirty. I hate filth, I hate insects, I hate dirt, I hate everything that's dirty. Everything! Ugh! Wait, what is that?" she pointed to the corner of the room.

"Amber," I announced, a smile forming from ear to ear. "I think you just made the most important discovery this search has to offer."

"I did?" she asked incredulously, following me as I ran over to where she was pointing. In the corner stood a door, blue and round.

"We've been here before. October 18th. The second day of Nina's disappearance. We came into the warehouse to search for here and all there was was boxes and this door. We opened it but we couldn't see anything. If Eddie says the entrance to Shadowland is in this warehouse, he couldn't have jumped into boxes or ran through walls. Amber, I think we just found the entrance to Shadowland!"

Her shocked expression immediately turned into an ecstatic one. "Really? This is great! Oh, this is wonderful . . . we can go into Shadowland! We can rescue Nina! I can apologize for being rude to her and calling her selfish, we can share a room again, and everything can go back to normal! No dreams! No Shadowland! No Paul! THIS IS GREAT!"

"Well, Amber," I announced, pulling and pulling on the door handle, "Even if I wanted to go into Shadowland, we couldn't, because this door is locked." I finished trying to open the door; my muscles were pooped. "It's locked tight. There's absolutely no way for us to get in there." I slid down the wall, and Amber followed my actions.

"Well, the parade had just started and then it started raining," she announced, a sad tone in her voice. "And to think I thought everything would go back to normal . . ."

"It will," I promised. "Eventually. I don't know when, and I don't know why Eddie wanted to be a Sibuna so bad, considering the circumstances, but we'll find out soon enough. Now we have Eddie on our side and we know where the entrance to Shadowland is! We'll be making great progress from now on, I promise."

I took Amber's hand and we walked out of the clearing together. Amber was too sad to look back at the warehouse, so we tried to avoid the route we took back on October eighteenth when we found her locket on the forest floor.

"What about that dream you had last night?" Amber asked, keeping close to me. I always knew she was scared of the forest, even back when we were looking for the Cup of Ankh. "The one where Nina was backing away from you because she thought you were the villain?"

I sighed. I didn't particularly want to talk about it, but I knew I had to. "What about it?"

But Amber, apparently, wasn't in the mood for seriousness because she nudged me and asked, "Did you two kiss afterwards?"

I groaned, but Amber wasn't done yet. She laughed as she said, "Come on, you know you wanted to! Fabian, you had such a crush on her last year. I was surprised you weren't jumping for joy when she ran into your arms after we escaped from Rufus and the murderous flies! And then Nina wisens up and realizes you liked her but then you accidentally asked Patricia and blah, blah, blah, you two got together, happy ending. And then you broke up. Why didn't you kiss her? I mean, it was the perfect time."

"Sorry, Amber, I was a bit too busy trying to convince her I wasn't going to kill her."

"I don't understand," she murmured, almost to herself.

"What don't you understand?"

"Why you two aren't together. Seriously, I've been shipping you two since you first said 'hi' to her."

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Monday, November 21st, 2011 7:00 AM<strong>

I tried not to laugh at Patricia's face at the breakfast table when Mick announced that he was the one to get the dream. Amber was upset that I wasn't the one to get the dream, because she wanted me and Nina to make up, but Patricia was beyond steamed that she hadn't gotten a dream at this point.

"She's scaring me, mate," Mick whispered in my ear as Patricia began to look like a volcano, ready to blow its top. I laughed, placed my hand on his shoulder and wished him good luck. Mick tried to look at his toast instead of at the steaming girl, but Patricia wasn't done yet.

"Mick, tell me what Nina told you." Patricia's blue-green eyes were practically staring into his soul.

Mick took a deep breath and addressed her calmly. "Nothing much. Just that her locket is more than a signal now. Apparently, 'it's more important than you think'. Whatever that means."

"You know, if I had the dream, I'd be able to understand it better," she muttered, stabbing her fork into her toast. "I'm one of the seniors of Sibuna. I'd be able to know what it means. I'm her friend! Right, Fabian? _Aren't I Nina's friend_?"

By this time, she had murdered her toast with her fork and there were now remnants of the bread on her plate. I held in a laugh as I nodded and said, "Yeah, you're her friend. No doubt about it."

"Then why haven't I gotten a dream?" she still sounded angry, but there was a hint of desperation in Patricia's voice as well. I could tell she honestly just wanted a dream. "I'm her friend! Fabian and Amber are her friends and they've gotten dreams! Jerome and Alfie were her friends and they've gotten dreams! She didn't even know Mara and Mick and they've gotten dreams! I'm the only one who hasn't gotten one and it's been over a month! I just don't understand."

She was calm again, but instead of only addressing me, Mick addressed the whole table. "Well, I don't know what she means with the locket, so . . . any ideas?"

"Don't ask me, because I haven't gotten a dream," Patricia muttered to herself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I thank likestarlight because next chapter would have been 2,000 words without her. For all you Peddie fans, you're going to love the next chapter. (But don't worry; there's some mystery involved as well, of course!)**

**I must be butter, because I'm on a roll. The next chapter, 41, will be up by next Monday! Next chapter is all in Patricia's POV; there's anger, questionings, initiations, and Patricia _still_ doesn't get a dream. Chapter 41 isn't as intense as this one, but it's definitely a step.**

**Oh my god I just realized One Direction was in Long Island on Saturday and you have no idea how happy that makes me. I feel like Long Island doesn't exist and the people who live here just made it up because no celebrities ever come to Long Island but hurray, One Direction did! I don't even like them that much but celebrities came to Long Island! *throws confetti***

**Aaaaaaah we're so close to 300 reviews ^u^**


	41. Blown-out Candles

**A/N: Hey, you. Yeah, you, reading this [seven-week-late] Author's Note. I know you've waited forever for this. I like your smile. :)  
><strong>

**Well, hello there! It's been a long time, hasn't it? Seven weeks, to be exact...  
><strong>

**I know, I know. I'm horrible. Absolutely horrible. When I said, seven weeks ago, that I would update next week, well — I was lying. At that point, chapter 41 was actually half written, but then I got to a certain point and I couldn't get past it. I probably will include the Peddie I promised in the next chapter (info on next chapter in the bottom of this chapter.), so I'm sorry if you were actually looking forward to that now; but hey, here's a new chapter! I PROMISE THAT UPDATES WILL BE QUICKER FROM NOW ON. **

**I'm pretty sure you all forgot what happened in chapter 40, so here's a brief summary: Fabian found out that MIR is actually Eddie, Eddie confessed to Sibuna, Amber and Fabian checked out the warehouse, and Patricia complained about not getting a dream. Not much, and this chapter is kind of a filler, but NEXT CHAPTER /IS IMPORTANT/. I promise that it'll be worth the wait of another week. **

**Again, I am /so sorry/ for the long wait, but Writer's Block is a bitch. I'm going to get started on Chapter 42 right after I publish this, so that's something to look forward to, if 42 is as easy to write as a few others were. I'm also sorry that this chapter is shorter than others I have, but I'm just glad I got it out. So, enjoy this seven-week-late chapter, and know that 42 will be the /best chapter yet/.  
>~Julianna<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>November 21st, 2011 7:19 AM**

It took Patricia a while to calm down, but eventually Alfie, who tried _so hard_ not to laugh, calmed her down and I slipped into my bedroom without another word.

I found Eddie sitting in his bed, flipping through a car magazine with headphones implanted in his ears. For the first time in three weeks, I actually saw him as a normal person, like he wasn't Paul's spy, like he wasn't the one who had sent the dream two night ago, like he wasn't secretly the Man in Red — or whatever his name was nowadays — like he was just a normal teenager.

It was weird to view him like that; for a moment, it was almost as if he was just my roommate, and nothing more. Like he wasn't the key to finding Nina and ending this all.

"Hey, dude," Eddie greeted, noticing me for the first time since I had come into the room, and I nodded, sitting down on my own bed to pull on my socks.

I was tempted to tell him _I know your secrets and everything about you_ but then I remembered that only yesterday, he had come clean to Sibuna, admitting to everything he had done. There wasn't anything else to uncover about him.

Well . . . except for personal stuff. I hadn't asked about Eddie's life before Anubis at all; the first day, I had already known he had something with Nina going on. I had never bothered to ask him what his favorite color was, or what he wanted to go to college for.

"So," I attempted to ease the tension between us. Now that we were one, I figured we could make a 'friendship' between us work. "Eddie. When's your birthday?"

Taking the headphones out of his ear and shutting the music off, he grinned and told me, "Today."

I blinked. "What?"

Eddie chuckled as he wrapped his earphones around his hand. "Yeah. Today's my sixteenth birthday."

"Oh..." I fumbled over my words. "Eddie, I didn't know —"

He chuckled again. "Don't worry, dude. I never told you before, so it's not like I expected you to wish me a happy day or something. I doubt my dad even knows when my birthday is, after all those years we spent apart." He shrugged, shoving the earphones in his pocket. It horrified me to think that Eddie didn't care how tangled they'd get when he pulled them out.

"Well, happy birthday, then," I told him, and I thought I saw the slightest hint of a smile before he went back to inspecting his notes for school. I wanted _so desperately_ to ask him about Shadowland, Nina, and everything else about this stupid quest, but he'd just give me the same answer as he did before: He wasn't allowed to tell me, or he'd get shish-ka-bobed. Maybe Eddie would even be able to tell me why she'd broken up with me in the first place.

**v v v**

_**Monday, November 21st, 2011**  
>Patricia wouldn't write an entry, so I'm (Alfie Lewis) writing the entry today. Fabian figured it would be "good" if I wrote in the Log for the first time. Whatever. It's not like I would've done my homework anyway.<br>I don't know if anyone's written about Mara and I being Seekers, but, well, we are. Which means we know the answers to every question and all that bullshit. I don't know who gave us that power, but if it was Nina, I'm going to whoop her ass for not giving me a cooler power like reading minds or laser vision or something.  
>Fabian said that in one of his previous dreams — or was it Amber? — sorry, me and Jerome have only had one dream* so I can't understand what it must feel like to be Amber or Fabian, who usually gets a dream every other night. Granted, I wasn't that good of friends with Nina last year, but I was her friend, and we were in Sibuna together. Maybe I would have had more dreams if the connection between me and Mara hadn't broken. I'm paired up with Jerome now — which is great, don't get me wrong — but Jerome was only in Sibuna for like five minutes before Rufus went wild and threatened us with poisonous flies.<br>__Anyway, getting back on track.  
><em>_In the past couple of days, there's been a few dreams. Amber's had one, Fabian's had two, Mara's had one, Mick's had one, and Jerome and I had one. Patricia's still furious about the fact that she hasn't gotten a dream yet, but that's for her to complain in another entry in the far, far future. We don't know that much as of late — Mick won't tell us a lot about his dream — but we know from the dreams that 1) The locket is more than just a signal, 2) There's some sort of curse that's keeping Nina locked in there, 3) Eddie's a spy who works in Shadowland, and 4) Eddie was, technically, the person who kidnapped Nina in the first place. More information on that later.  
><em>_~Alfie_

Alfie closed the Log and handed it back to me. "Fabian," he began, "are we ever going to go to the warehouse as a team, or are you and Amber just never going to tell us what happened?"

"Nothing happened, boo," Amber promised, kissing his cheek, which made Alfie smile like a little kid. "I promise. But if you really want to go find out, well..." Amber looked at me for confirmation.

"There's nothing to find there," I explained sadly, sitting back against the couch in the common room. Everyone in the House was here with us, excluding Patricia and Eddie; wherever they were, I would never know, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know, considering the circumstances. "All we'd be doing is staring at a door that won't open. Eddie might be the only one who could ever tell us how to get in, and I'm sure he won't tell us." I groaned, rolling my eyes.

"Well, it's not like he can tell us," Mick reasoned. "I mean, if he did, Paul would know, right? Eddie said that Paul would know if he took, and I quote, a 'juicebox' into Shadowland. If he took us there with him, I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty."

"I know, I know," I told him, looking everywhere but the group that was sitting around me. "I just want to get this all over with, you know? To act as if nothing ever happened..."

"One day," Mara promised me, staring down at her hands. "Sometime soon—"

Realization hit me. "Mara!" I exclaimed, and she jumped, startled. "You're a Seeker, correct?" When Mara nodded, as if the answer to my question was obvious, I quickly asked, "So you should know when we're going to be able to rescue Nina and get everything over with."

Mara was silent for a second; I presumed she was thinking of the answer to my question. After another few moments' silence, she took a deep breath and faced me. "Fabian, I don't think you really want to know."

"What?" I asked incredulously, standing up so quickly I was surprised I didn't hit the ceiling. "Why wouldn't I want to know?"

Mara shared a long look with Alfie, the other Seeker, and I knew the news wasn't going to be good. I didn't particularly care; I wanted a definite answer as to when I would be able to see my girlfriend again and get an answer as to why she broke up with me.

Normally, I wouldn't have cared if she had broken up with me; yes, I loved her a lot, but if we were a couple last year when we were looking for the Cup of Ankh and she broke up with me, I would've been more focused on the search and not on the reason she broke up with me.

Now, though, was completely different. There was a reason as to why she broke up with me. I asked Eddie the reason why, and his only answer was, "I told her to do it", referring to Paul, who was his opposite (Long story). But something in his expression told me differently. Then there was my latest dream to think about . . . Eddie's evil side had once again come back inside him, making him look like the villain in the picture. He did something to Nina verbally; I probably could have convinced her I wasn't going to hurt her before I was taken out of the dream. Now, apparently, Eddie can send dreams as well. Which makes sense, considering he was the one who gave Nina the choice to do that in the first place.

Finally, Alfie and Mara looked back to me. "We have decided we're not going to tell you."

A small part of me actually didn't want to know, so I wasn't that disappointed. If Alfie actually agreed not to spill the beans on something, than it had to be horrible.

"Mara?" I asked softly, and she perked up at the mention of her name. "I asked _when_ we were going to rescue her. I didn't ask _what_ was going to happen."

"Oh," she said quickly, sharing a look with Alfie. She almost seemed relieved. "Sorry. I tend to look into things too much. You're going to find her during Winter Break."

"_You're_ going to find her?" Patricia interrupted, her finger making an appearance in the middle of the circle. "_You're_ as in _Fabian_? No, no, no, no. I don't think so. I'd rather it be _We're_ going to find her because I'm going to give Nina a piece of my mind when we find her."

Alfie was trying to hold in a laugh again; when he failed to hold it back, Mara and Patricia slapped him on the back, making him choke on his own spit. "So, Alfie," Patricia asked sweetly, "What's going to happen when we find Nina?"

"Sorry, Patricia," Mara rushed the words out of her mouth, grabbing Alfie under the arm and dragging him out of the common room. "I don't want to tell you, and Alfie doesn't either. We're going now." When Alfie wouldn't budge, Mara finally sprinted out of the room, and I heard the words "Run away" as they left. I didn't think much of it at the time.

Including me, there were six people sitting in the common room. Patricia was sitting on the couch, toying around with her phone while Amber was toying with her nails; Joy and Jerome were silently discussing something, and Jerome's gaze constantly turned to me; Mick was staring at the wall awkwardly. I could tell that none of them wanted to be here, other than Patricia and Amber.

"Okay, guys," I announced, and all heads turned to me. "I'm going to ask nicely for Joy, Mick, and Jerome to leave. After a blur of "Why?" and "I don't want to leave!" I told them I just wanted original Sibuna to discuss everything that had been going on. If I was being honest, I didn't prefer having more people in Sibuna; I'd rather have less than more. It seemed too crowded in our meetings lately.

I clapped my hands, staring at the small group around now, even though Alfie was still somewhere, discussing the horrible thing that was going to happen during Winter Break. "So . . . Mara said we're going to find Nina during Winter Break. How far away is that?"

Patricia quickly checked the calender on her phone. "About a month," she concluded. "The day before Christmas is when Winter Break starts. So, somewhere between December 24th and January 2nd. Today is November 21st, so a little over a month is when we should find her."

I attempted to hide my happiness, but I'm pretty sure it showed. We'd find Nina in a month. Only one month until she was back with me and everything was done, over with, finished. Never to be looked at again.

"So, um, what's next?" I inquired, looking from Patricia to Amber. "What are we going to do?"

"You're the leader now," Patricia told me, crossing her arms as she sat back against the couch. "You tell us. What do you think we should do? Where do our clues lead us, oh-wise-one?"

Internally enjoying her comment, I tried to hide my smile as I said, "Well, we don't know for sure until we get a new dream. We know as much as we can from our previous dreams, right? And Eddie told us a lot the other day. Maybe we should ask Eddie what to do next?"

"I don't think that would work," Patricia sneered. "Eddie's a load of crap, and I don't believe anything he says—"

"Don't you, now?" A voice asked from the foyer; all three of our heads turned to see Eddie standing there.

"Just on time," Patricia muttered bitterly to herself.

"Wondering what my position was?" he questioned, sitting down next to me on the couch. "Well, I know about as much as you do. Nothing new. It seems to be moving so slowly, you know? So, anyway . . ." he moved his arms behind his head in an attempt to get comfortable. "You guys know anything?"

"Not really," I announced, flipping through the Dream Log. "Not a lot . . . only the things you told us the other day." Eddie nodded. "Can you tell us anything else?" He shook his head sadly, and I took a deep breath. I knew not to question him after the dream I had last night; his Osirian-opposite would get the better of him, and would make Nina think I'm the victim again.

"But, um..." I continued, hesitating. I didn't want to make Eddie think I was forcing the answer out of him. "Mara told us when we're going to finish this whole search, so..."

Eddie raised his eyebrows, so I said, "Winter Break. Somewhere between December 24th and January 2nd."

"I'm going back to America on Winter Break," Eddie muttered, almost of himself. I saw Patricia silently cheer, and I shot her a _Stop it_ look. From a glance, I could tell that Eddie felt a little bit guilty for not being able to be here when someone was to rescue Nina — whoever would rescue her.

I didn't know who it would be, but I silently hoped it would be me. After everything Nina and I had been there — this year and last year — it would be unfair if it was someone else who rescued her after this whole fiasco. I don't know how I would feel if Alfie had to be the one to lead her back to the House while everyone else was on Christmas Break.

The group was silent for a while after that. In an attempt to break the ice, I announced, "So, who do you think will get the dream tonight?"

"Not me," Patricia muttered, almost silently, rolling her eyes.

I felt kind of bad for her; after all, even though they got off on a bad foot, Nina and Patricia became friends during the search for the Cup of Ankh. If Alfie had been the one to go missing, if he was the one sending dreams; I'd feel kind of insulted that he wasn't sending me dreams, too. We weren't the best of friends, but we were still friends, and I deserved a dream.

I understood why she felt that way; but whoever was getting that dream that night would infuriate Patricia even more.

"You know anything about the dreams?" I asked Eddie; a hopeless attempt to squeeze more information out of him.

He shrugged. "Dunno. I know about as much about those stupid dreams as you do. And no, Patricia, I do not know who is getting the dream tonight."

She looked miffed, so Eddie grinned. "Anyway . . . well, I want to go inspect the warehouse again. Amber, are you in for it?"

She nodded feverishly, and I was about to continue about our routine, but Eddie decided to butt in before I could say anything. "No, no, no!" he exclaimed, making motions with his hands as if I was crossing the street while a car was passing. "That is _not_ a good idea. I know you and Amber checked it out earlier, but Paul noticed, and when I went in the other day, he told me—..."

It was a small moment that only lasted a few seconds, but I still felt bad for Eddie right then. He probably came to the UK in an attempt to get to know his dad better, and now he was stuck having to look after a kidnapped teenage girl and spy on kids he didn't even know, having to deal with their problems and such.

All he wanted was a friend in this new place, but all he was making was enemies.

While he was pausing and I was contemplating, Patricia and Amber were glaring at him. I almost felt tempted to scold them and to understand Eddie's reasoning, but he took a deep breath and continued. I admired his bravery; maybe I should be that brave.

Now that I knew when we would find Nina, I was kind of hoping that someone else would find her. I didn't know why, and I shouldn't have been feeling that way — Nina was my girlfriend after all — but I hoped that maybe Alfie or Amber would be the one to find Nina and bring her back to Anubis House. I didn't want to be the one to do that; I'd just make a fool of myself somehow, like I wouldn't be able to speak in coherent sentences or I'd accidentally push Nina to the ground or something. I didn't want to ruin things that quickly.

Eddie was acting as my motivator lately; something to keep my going, something to excite me. I probably would've lost my motivation if Eddie wasn't around. If Eddie wasn't in Anubis House and Nina had broken up with me . . . none of us might have been getting dreams.

"He told me that he'd punish you, one by one," Eddie finally answered, breaking me out of my thoughts. "And it wouldn't be pretty. Look, I . . . I can't risk that."

"Why not?" Amber questioned unnecessarily, while Patricia was still sparing him glares.

Eddie shook his head, unwilling to say anything else. "It's not a big deal. Anyway, Fabian, Amber, you can't go to the warehouse again. Just...please. You don't have to respect me, but respect _that one choice_. I'm begging you."

I understood, but from the corner of my eye, Amber and Patricia seemed to be having a silent conversation, similar to Alfie and Patricia. Once again, I felt like the odd one out, but as Eddie walked into our room, I had some questionings to do.

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p>Joy<br>Day

It felt weird having Patricia in my room with me again, but having Patricia back was something better. After a year of not seeing her in person, sharing a room with her felt like my birthday.

"So, um..." I murmured, flattening out her sheets and crawling into them. "What are these dreams, anyway?"

"Don't worry about them," Patricia muttered, avoiding my gaze as she turned off the light. "It's not like you'll actually get one. Nina barely even knew you. Don't worry, because _you're_ safe."

* * *

><p><strong>v v v <strong>

* * *

><p>"Oh my god!"<p>

"Huh," was the first word I heard after I recovered from my shock and pain after being whisked away from my slumber and into — Shadowland — as Fabian and the others called it. I was on my hands and knees, trying to regain my composure. "Eddie was right," the voice continued, "that really does _never get old_."

The source of the voice walked over and helped me up. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I should have warned you about the entrance . . . it scares the living shit out of newcomers because they don't know what's coming. It's gotten to the point where I don't even laugh anymore."

She lifted me up, only to find my surroundings around me; it was a small little place, with a small little house and a huge forest to make the house look even smaller. And standing in front of the house was Nina Martin, the girl who I only saw once in my life, the girl who apparently went missing one month ago.

I was speechless for a moment; the truth hit me like a brick dropped from a roof. I was in_ Shadowland,_ the place Eddie and Patricia and Fabian had talked about forever. I was actually _here_. Alone. Without Patricia.

"Well, that's something to tell her," I muttered to myself, completely forgetting the person in front of me. "That's a knee-slapper. Something to think about . . . oh, this is a dream. This is actually a dream and I —"

"You okay?" Nina questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, finally brought back to reality. I took a deep breath and looked away from Nina for a moment, really taking in the surroundings; this was the place where she had lived for the past month.

It was strange. When I was taken away last year, because I was thought to be the Chosen One, I was safe in my house, with my parents and internet friends for company. Sure, I couldn't talk to Patricia, Fabian, or Mara, but I could still do something to keep me occupied.

If I was brought _here_ instead, I most likely would've jumped off a bridge. It looked boring; dreary, isolated, lonely. I wasn't sure how Nina had survived living here for a month with nothing to do. I knew she had Eddie, but still . . . after everything she's been through . . .

I watched her movements as she suddenly looked over my shoulder. I blinked, turning around suddenly, but no one was there. I had thought, just for a second, that Paul (I was still confused on what his name was today) was there; Eddie had ranted to us later about how Paul was an evil thing; he hurt people, not even caring about what he did to them. I couldn't imagine what would happen if he was actually here with us.

After Nina didn't talk for a few seconds, my heart started to pound out of my chest; with everything around me, including the girl who had just given me a dream, I had no idea what to expect. If she wasn't telling me what she had learned to get this all over with, what would she talk to me about? I wasn't her friend; I had only seen her once before in my life, at the prom where everything was settled and we learned that I actually wasn't the Chosen One and that title belonged to the person standing in front of me.

A few painful seconds later, of watching Nina open and close her mouth in an attempt to say words, she finally closed her mouth again and thought for a second. "Did Fabian inform you about what happened last year?" was the first thing she said.

"About the Cup of Ankh?" I questioned, and Nina nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Because I've had this idea..." she drawled, forgetting about me and walking over to the staircase, the one that lead to the big square in the middle of this place.

I had no choice but to follow her; it was an insane idea, considering that I had just come here with no clue, not even an introduction, but I knew the right thing to do would to be to follow her.

I watched her walk down the steps: "One...two...three...four...five...six...seven!" she exclaimed, jumping up and scaring me out of my wits. "The seventh step!" e.

I stood, confused, as she got down on her knees and attempted to pry apart the rock steps; after she realized her mistake, Nina sighed and sat down on the rocks.

I kind of felt bad for her then, which was rare for me; I was quite naïve, but I tended to only think of myself in other people's crisis. Like, _how would I deal with what this person is dealing with right now_? and I forget to comfort them or give them words of wisdom. It was a flaw I admitted to; a flaw I was attempting to change.

I was still confused about this seventh step thing, but now that my attention was on Nina again, I decided to ask her what had been on my mind since my mind registered where I was. "So, um . . ." I said, awkwardly, noticing the silence; I scratched the back of my head, and I was the one who had administered the conversation. "Anything you need to tell me?"

"Um . . ." she murmured, looking away from me; even with that simple movement, I could tell she was going to cry.

I knew it too well; I had cried many times before, trying to hide it from people. Like when my mum died a few years ago and Fabian was trying to comfort me; I had turned _away_ from him instead of coming _to_ him. It was something I regretted; if I had just come to him, I could have dealt with my pain better.

Now, though, I had no idea what to do. Nina was a sort of special case, because I had no idea what she was going through. I wasn't kidnapped on the side of the road after school one afternoon by a teacher I thought I could trust. I wasn't betrayed by the one I called a friend because I found out that he was a spy and he, technically, was the one that had kidnapped me in the first place.

"I . . ." Nina continued, amazing me at how strong she was being. "I . . . I really don't know. Eddie wasn't told me anything . . . he says that the 'portal has been closed' whatever that means. I don't know. You can take it back to Sibuna and figure out the meaning, because Eddie probably won't tell you guys."

"Is there anything on your mind?" I questioned, moving a little bit closer to her, careful not to set her off. I didn't know what happened to her in the past month; she could have been abused, neglected, or anything. She could be scarred for life.

I couldn't imagine how Fabian must feel, knowing about all this. He's the brains of Sibuna, the guy who has five million facts stored inside his head. He's the one that always comes up with a plan and knows everything about our quest at hand. He knew everything about what happened to Nina, much more than me; he knew what had happened to her. He probably even knew the real reason why she broke up with him and he wasn't even saying. This must've been as hard on Fabian as it was on Nina herself.

I made a mental note of the theory she had told me, and Nina finally cracked.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I really just had to get this chapter out of my system, because if I didn't, I never would have updated. I made a mistake with planning for this chapter; it was a stupid, short little stub of a chapter, compared to my other ones, so it really, really did suck. It wasn't like my other, better chapters.**

**Buuuut~ now that I've gotten back into the thick of writing this story, chapter 42 will be up soon — I know I made you wait a while for this chapter, but I'm just taking _another_ week off to pre-write a few chapters so I have them stored and you guys don't have to wait another seven weeks. So, there's DEFINITELY an update on SEPTEMBER 2ND and the chapters will be longer. I **_promise_**.**

**Well, feel free to make predictions. This story will be closing up soon; 23 chapters to go before it all ends! I'm thinking of trashing the sequel, so there might not be a sequel to this story, unfortunately, unless someone can help me with it. I love you all for reviewing, favoriting and following; all of you make my day. And remember that CHAPTER 42 WILL BE/MUCH MUCH MUCH BETTER THAN THIS SUCKISH CHAPTER./**

**OMFG THOUGH SERIOUSLY IF ANYONE CAN TELL ME WHERE TO FIND SEASON 1 I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. I've been trying to find it everywhere; TeenNick links won't work, and every download I've tried has infected my computer with viruses. I almost lost all my documents thanks to one of the downloads. If anyone, /anyone/ knows a specific free link to season 1, I will love you forever.**

**Lesson of the day: Never play Tree of Tranquility to 3 AM unless you want to be _really_ tired the next morning. **

**I'll either see you next week or the week after with a chapter 101% better than this one, I swear to you. Two weeks at the most.  
>~Julianna<strong>


	42. The Curse of Having Too Much Time

**A/N: I'm telling you, these chapters just keep getting worse by the minute. I don't know why you guys even read this stupid story. Still can't understand why 100 different people follow this dumb story.**

**I promised you an update today, and an update you got. This chapter is 120% better than the previous one, so appreciate this; there's some progress, so it's not another filler chapter. There's some action, too, not to mention they discover something bigger...  
><strong>

**Unfortunately, though, I never got around to pre-writing...I'll have to take another two week break. I start high school tomorrow; it's a school I've only been in once, so I have _absolutely_ no clue as to where I'm going, not to mention that I have brand new classes and more work. I don't know what school is going to do to me, so bare with me, just until I get used to this new school. I promise that I'm not going to abandon this story, like I did with some of my other ones, but just be patient with me, okay?**

**Still can't believe it's September...like, it was July two days ago. I don't know where the time went.**

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><p><strong>Joy<br>Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 7:56 am**

The first thing my eyes processed when they opened was the ceiling above me.

For a few seconds, nothing clicked. I had just slept through another night. No big deal. It was a Tuesday and I had to endure another day of school with the useless teachers who kidnapped me the previous year.

It wasn't until Mara and Patricia mentioned 'dreams' that I remembered what happened. Only a few minutes ago, I had been in a dream; I had met Nina, properly, for the first time. I had met her before, at the prom, but we had never really spoken. I was more concerned about Patricia than anyone else. I had met her, had talked to her, for the first time.

She had told me the entrance had been closed . . . she also told me that Eddie would know the answer to whatever she meant.

I had just experienced once of those 'dreams' that everyone kept going on about. I was one of the last to get one; I could tell Fabian about it, and I could write about what happened in the Dream Log. I could finally know what they were talking about for the first time since I had arrived.

"Good morning, Joy," Mara greeted, and I nodded, throwing the covers off of my body. Patricia had coaxed Mara back into sharing with us, because Mara had been sleeping in Nina's bed for the past few days; she didn't really like sharing with an extra person.

"Morning," I returned, walking over to Patricia's bedside, where she was typing on her phone. As usual, I had startled her.

"Jesus Christ, Joy," she breathed, putting her phone away. "You scared the living shit out of me. What do you want?"

"A word downstairs," I muttered under my breath. Patricia raised her eyebrows; when I made a motion with my hands, holding them together and resting my head on them to make it look like I was sleeping, Patricia rolled her eyes.

"Joy, I love you, but are you really that dumb?" she asked, pointing over to Mara, who was combing her hair out. "Mara's a part of Sibuna now too, remember? She knows about the dreams. If that's what you're implying, than you can talk freely in front of all of us."

A smug grin spread across my face. "Fine," I muttered, leaning against the foot of Patricia's bed. "Then I guess you wouldn't care if I told _you_, out in the open, that I had a dream last night?"

The grin still refusing to come off my face, I watched as Patricia's face contorted. In a matter of only a few seconds, I saw anger, sadness, confusion, and a static expression of _WHY?! _

But, much to my surprise, Patricia didn't act like a volcano. "What happened in this dream of yours?" She asked, and I almost didn't want to say (for a matter of reasons).

There was the matter of not wanting to make my best friend mad; as much as I loved getting a kick out of making her angry, I knew she just wanted to be included. She was one of the seniors of Sibuna, and she still hadn't gotten a dream and didn't know why. Patricia had told me a few days ago that she was forgetting how Nina looked and sounded like (but I knew she was exaggerating.)

There was also the lingering guilt that I never really wanted a dream; they were dangerous, according to the others who had already gotten dreams, and I didn't really know Nina. I had only met her that one time. I wouldn't understand them because I hadn't really been paying attention in the Sibuna meetings.

I also didn't want to talk about what happened after Nina told me her new information; she had cracked. She started crying, mumbling something about not being able to do this; I didn't know what she meant, but instead of comforting her, like I should have done, I backed away until she finally ended the dream.

I felt completely guilty; sure, I didn't know her, but she was troubled deep down. She had been kidnapped off the side of the road and thrown into an alternate dimension, forced to send dreams to people she wanted to protect. Anyone would cry eventually if they had been forced into that. I know _I_ would have been.

Nina, even though I had only spoken to her that one time, proved to be one of the strongest people I'd ever met. I didn't know anyone who could survive that amount of torment and abuse and still be living to the date. She'd been trapped int here for more than a month, and she'd still been going strong.

Anyway, I charged through my answer. "Nothing, really," I lied through my teeth. I just didn't want to make Patricia angrier than she already was. "She told me that the entrance was closed, and that Eddie might have more answers. Whatever that means. Anyway . . . when's breakfast going to be ready, because I'm starving-"

"Is there something wrong with me?" Patricia complained. I shared a knowing look with Mara before turning back to Patricia; I knew she was talking about never getting a dream.

"I don't think so, Trixie," I answered. "Why?"

"Because," she groaned, leaning against her headboard, finally forcing herself out of her bed, starting to get dressed, pulling off her shirt and pants. "Even though we got off to a rough start, Nina and I were friends in the end. I mean, I called _her_ out of all people when I rescued Rufus out of the hospital! Granted, she did have the locket, but that doesn't count - we're friends now, and she hasn't even gave me a dream! It kind of makes me think . . . you know, that she doesn't consider me a friend."

I was surprised at how calmly she was handling this as Patricia slipped into her school uniform and started to walk down the steps. "I just want to be in the loop! Everyone _else_ knows how it feels to be in a dream, and I don't. It's annoying me."

"It's really not that great, Patricia," Mara tried to persuade her, and I nodded in agreement. Mara continued, "You're thrust into Shadowland, which you've seen before, and knocked unfaily to floor because you lose your balance. Then Nina shows up, you learn some random stuff, and you're thrown back into Anubis House! Amber's gotten tons of dreams, and she's said she's getting sick of them."

"Sick of what?" Amber asked innocently, as we arrived in the kitchen, after walking down the stairs together. Amber sat down in her usual seat, next to the previously-empty-now-occupied seat, taken by the one and only Eddie Miller. Even though she would never admit it, Amber kind of despised Eddie for sitting in Nina's seat. Fabian told me a while ago that Nina and Amber were fighting for a while, but that "Amber was never mad at her in the first place".

"The dreams," Mara answered right away, and a guilty looked crossed Amber's face.

"Yeah, um . . ." she muttered, picking at her nails. "About the dreams. I, just-"

"Dreams?" Fabian's eyes widened in surprise, as it was the first thing he heard as he walked in. "Dream? Did somebody have a dream? I've been dying for new information . . . who got one? What did Nina say? Is something wrong?"

When everyone was silent, I rolled my eyes. "Jesus, guys. Can't nobody say it?" I rain."sed my hand. "I had the dream. And, no, Fabian, nothing important happened-" We shared a look, and Fabian knew what I was talking about - "So don't ask. What she _did_ say was that the portal has been closed, and Eddie might have answers. Is anyone up for tailgating Eddie everywhere and stalking him? Patricia?"

She grinned and nodded; I heard her mutter under her breath, "Maybe I can actually get answers as to why I'm not getting a dream if I lock him in a closet", then get this maniacal grin on her face. I was actually worried about her for a second there.

"Does anybody else know anything about the entrance? Anybody?" I asked around, my arms widening with each word. Mara, Patricia, and Fabian shook their heads, but Fabian raised his hand like I had done.

"Um . . . well, Alfie and Mara might know something, since they're the Seekers . . . and I think they saw Eddie go into the warehouse before, too." A glance at Mara proved she was hiding something, as she was sliding under the table in guilt and shame. "How about you and Alfie go there and inspect again, Mara?" Fabian knew he was pushing his luck.

"Oh, great," Mara muttered, sliding back into her seat. "Hours alone with Alfie. I'm sure that won't end up with him talking about an alien is living in the trash can."

"Oh, come on!" Fabian groaned, getting up and pouring himself a bowl of cereal. "You know you want to. And, besides...I just want to get this thing over with, and I'm sure everyone is with me on that one. And if you camp out there, you might get a dream, because you'll be closer, and—"

"Don't speak of it!" Patricia yelled, covering her ears while everyone laughed. When she removed her blockage, she started her argument, once again, with, "_I'm her friend_!"

* * *

><p><strong>v v v <strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Alfie<br>Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 11:30 PM**

"So," I breathed, walking along the trail with Mara after a long day at school. "We're going to the warehouse again?"

"Yep," Mara answered, obviously annoyed, as I had asked her this fourteen times. "Again. Now can you stop talking until we get there? Eddie promised he wouldn't come today, so we've got the whole area around the warehouse to ourselves with no interruptions."

"Would you say that we're off to see the wizard?" I joked, poking Mara in the chest as we walked along.

"Ugh, Alfie!" she yelled, smacking my hand off of her body. "Stop that. No, we're not off to see the wizard. I don't think that Paul can do anything good with a hand, much less grant courage or a heart to someone who needs it," she reasoned. I rolled my eyes as I trailed along; Mara could never take a joke. We had been walking for a while now, seeming as the path to the clearing was a long one; I didn't know how Sibuna had gotten there so quickly back before I was an honorary member.

It still took some brain cells to remember that Jerome, Mara, Joy, and Mick were part of Sibuna now; it seemed like yesterday that Sibuna was only me, Patricia, Amber, Fabian, and Nina. Now Nina was gone and four members were added (five if you counted Eddie, but I didn't think anyone really counted him.)

I had this selfish, silent wish that once this search was over with; once we had found Nina, Sibuna would go back to the way it originally was. I hoped that Jerome, Mara, Joy, and Mick would go back to the things they were doing before they were a part of Sibuna and forget everything we had ever told them. They could forget the story of the Cup of Ankh we told them and act as if the House wasn't cursed.

I sighed, ignoring Mara's complaints as she brushed against a branch. After a few more agonizing minutes of wanting to turn back and run away, back to Anubis House, Mara whistled and whispered, "Alfie, I think we're here. Is this it?"

She brought my attention over from a spider on my boot; I walked to the edge of the clearing, and sure enough, Sibuna's old friend The Warehouse was waiting for us. "That's it," I muttered, kicking the spider off of my boot and gaining enough courage to step over the bushes and to the House. I knew that Rufus was long gone; he wasn't trapped inside the warehouse and he wouldn't jump out and scare us like I would've done all those months ago.

"So . . ." Mara dragged, as she followed me, most reluctantly, near the warehouse. "What do we do next? Just sit here and wait until someone comes out or someone comes in? Wouldn't it be better if we were _inside_ the warehouse, seeming as the _entrance_ is _inside_?"

Grunting next to a pleased Mara, I followed her inside the warehouse, bracing for my life, expecting to see a younger Patricia sitting on the chair, alone, eating a burger, and a much older Rufus Zeno watching over her. It was strange to think that was only a year ago; I helped Sibuna find and repair the Cup of Ankh and give a man obsessed with living forever false hope that he gained immortality.

I was just happy that Nina's kidnapper wasn't Rufus, because if it was, we would all be dead because he thought _I_ was dead.

Mara positioned herself behind some boxes, so we could see the entrance to Shadowland but wasn't in plain sight. I crouched next to her.

"What do we do next?" I asked, making Mara jump, after a few moments of silence.

Without looking at me, she said, "Nothing. Just sit here and wait until something happens." She took a deep breath, and started to get down on her knees so she'd be more comfortable while she watched the door. She grunted, "I can't believe Fabian is making us do this. Argh, Alfie, when is it going to be your turn?"

I shrugged, sitting down against one of the boxes, unable to see Mara's face. "Dunno, Mara," I stated, staring at the blank blue wall. "Maybe when you get tired. How about we just take turns? In hour-intervals? What time is it now?"

She checked her watch. "11:45 in the evening. So you're going to watch at 12:45? Won't we get tired during that time?"

"So the other one will take a nap. No big deal. We'll make it work," I groaned, moving around so my head was positioned on a box. It made me uncomfortable to think that I wasn't sleeping on my bed, instead a box, but I closed my eyes and waited.

"This is boring."

"Alfie!" Mara scolded, reaching down and slapping the back of my head. "It's our job. It doesn't matter that it's boring; we need to do this. Don't you want to make Amber happy?"

"And why would I want to do that?" I questioned, rubbing the back of my head where had whooped me. Mara might be one of the weakest in terms of muscle in the house, but she had some arm.

"Because she's your girlfriend," she listed, counting on her fingers. Even though she wasn't facing me, she continued: "Because you spent the last four years being in love with her. Because Nina is Amber's best friend. Because Amber counts on you to be there for her. Because—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," I muttered, turning around to find a more comfortable spot to lie down. "It's not like I wasn't going to do this in the first place." Mara scoffed, and we were silent for a good amount of time after that.

"Mara?" I whispered.

"What?"

"Are you bored?"

She shrugged, leaning on her elbow so she could get comfortable while watching the door. "A little bit. I mean, nothing's happening . . . I'm just watching the door . . . seeing nothing except the color blue. What about you?"

"Yeah, a little bit," I yawned, trying to cover it up. "You wanna play a game?"

She asked, "What kind of game?"

"I dunno. Like an alphabet game, or a counting game, or something. It could distract us from looking at the door all night, even though that's what Fabian wants us to do."

Mara, always the party pooper, had to once again rain on my parade. "Alfie," she scolded, and I already rolled my eyes. "That could distract us. If we were to talk about anything, we could discuss what we'd already learned. If we thought about it, we could get a clue from something we already have—"

"Apple."

"Banana," was her immediate reaction. Even though she tried to come off as annoyed, I could see the smirk on her face.

"Carrot," I continued, and she replied with: "Dorito."

"Dorito?" I questioned, and she confirmed with a nod. I shook my head, announced, "Elephant," and the game continued.

"Flamingo."

"Giraffe."

"Hippo."

By the time we got to Zebra, Mara was just about to fall asleep. "Mara?" I whispered again, and when she didn't respond, my immeadiate reaction was: "JOHN JACOB JINGLEHEIMER SCHMIDT! HIS NAME IS MY NAME TOO!" she opened her eyes, but I didn't stop. "WHENEVER WE GO OUT, THE PEOPLE ALWAYS SHOUT, THERE GOES JOHN JACOB JINGLEHEIMER SCHMIDT."

"God damnit, Alfie," she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Don't do that. Just go back to sleep so I can look at the blue door in peace without you singing random songs."

I think my eyes were closed for a good five seconds when a different voice announced, "Hey."

My eyes shot open, only to find Eddie Miller, the newest member of Sibuna, right next to us. "Eddie!" Mara yelled, blushing feverishly, red coloring making its way onto her cheeks. "You were supposed to stay in the House tonight! What are you doing?"

"Hmm..." he muttered, a smirk on his face, tapping his chin sarcastically. "Well, I don't know. Just to see if the girl I was born to protect is okay, you know . . . so I don't get killed . . . you know, what the usual teenager has to go through. Excuse me for wanting to make sure Nina was safe. What are _you_ doing here?" he growled.

"Stakeing-out," I answered, and Mara slapped my arm. "Ow!" When she gave me that _If-you-tell-him-the-truth-you're-dead-meat _look, and as I rubbed my arm to soothe to oncoming bruise (that woman had an arm), I faced Eddie again. "Um . . . we were . . ."

Instead of yelling at me, which I thought he would do, Eddie said, "Can I join you?"

It surprised both me and Mara. "You want to join?" Mara wondered, and Eddie nodded.

"Yeah," the grinned. "I've always wondered what it's like . . . if Paul doesn't see me coming in, he'll come out. And if I _still_ don't come in . . . he might _come out_ . . ."

"And if he comes out?" I added in my question.

"You guys can swoop in," his grin steadily grew wider with each word he spoke. "You can get Nina and get out of here! You can finish the search right here, right now! I can kill Paul, and then—"

"Eddie," Mara interrupted, and I knew what she was thinking. "I'm a Seeker. I know the answer to every question. And yesterday, I figured out that we're going to rescue Nina during Winter Break. Remember? I told _you_ that, too. One way or another, we're getting Nina back sometime in December, and it's only November right now."

He looked disappointed, but I didn't know why. I'd be happy if I knew when my protectee was getting out (and if she was getting out safely). "Eddie, we'll finish this and rescue her soon," Mara promised, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I promise. Just be patient. Winter Break is only a month away, yeah?"

"Whatever," Eddie rolled his eyes, but I could tell from his expression he cared a great bunch. "Um . . . so . . . can I go in now? You know, just to check . . . to make sure Nina's okay . . ."

"Why wouldn't she be okay?" Mara wondered, voicing my thoughts. It was strange, how alike we were as of lately. "Eddie, did something happen? Tell me now, or I'll figure it out myself."

He took a deep breath, looking back and forth from both Mara to me, back to Mara, then back to me. "Well . . . " and for a moment I actually thought he might say something; a surge of fear coursed through me, in thought that something might have _actually_ happened to Nina. Despite all the bossiness, she was still my friend, and she helped me a lot last year. But just as I was thinking that something bad might have happened, Eddie continued. "...nothing. Nothing happened. Paul was just feeling extra cruel, and, well—"

"He hit her?" Mara and I said at the same time, startling Eddie so much he fell back against the boxes, making a loud noise.

"How did you know?" Eddie voiced, once he taken in enough air to form words. His hand was over his chest, once again moving his glance from Mara and back to me.

"Eddie, I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid," I proclaimed, smiling proudly. But my smile vanished when I continued my speech: "When Jerome and I had our last dream...well, it was kind of obvious. She always flinched when I touched her shoulder or something. Are you saying that Paul—"

"No, no!" Eddie waved his hands in protest against what I was suggesting. A wave of relief flooded through me; I could practically feel Mara's relief next to me. "I . . . just . . . I . . . nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I swear. Now can you let me go in and check on her?"

I still didn't believe him as he sighed and leaned against the boxes again, scratching the back of his head. I wished I could get into his head; it would be weird to see what he was thinking in his head; what did he think of us? What did he think of the UK? What did he think of Nina? Did he love her, did he hate her? Did he want to get out of her hair and leave her alone forever, or did he want to stay by her side the entire way through?

"We'll let you go in as soon as you tell us how to open the door," I requested, folding my arms against my chest and leaning against the wall.

Eddie groaned, and for a second — it was only a second, but I saw it — there was a sense of longing in his expression, like all he wanted in life was to get out of our sight and into Shadowland to check up on Nina, whatever the problem was. I didn't know what he was hiding, but I knew it wasn't good. There was a second that I kind of admired him; I wished I could be that daring for Amber. If Amber was the one in Nina's position, if she was kidnapped off the side of the road and was sending us dreams, I didn't think I'd have the guts Eddie had. "I don't know, alright?" Silence ensued; when neither of us spoke, Eddie groaned again, pushing himself off the floor and pacing the warehouse. "Come _on_, guys, please? I just want to get in there for one second to check —"

"You obviously know how to get in if you want to go in right now!" Mara counterattacked, snapping at Eddie, but he didn't seem fazed at all.

He groaned again, grabbing his hair in frustration. I could tell that he _really_ didn't know how to get in, even though Mara believed differently. "I'm telling you, I don't know! Now, could you _please_ let me go in?"

Mara and I shared a look, and I knew what she was thinking: If Eddie really wanted to go in, he would ignore us and charge right through the door, since he could obviously go in and out as he pleased. If he could just go in right now . . . why wasn't he? Why did he need our permission? I knew from the first day he was in Anubis that he was hiding something, but he promised there would be no more secrets with us.

"We're sorry, Eddie," Mara apologized, getting that look in her eyes whenever she knew she did something bad. "We're so sorry. But we can't let you go in."

Silence ensued between the three of us. Eddie continued to pace around the building, muttering to himself and holding his hair with a grip so tight I thought he would pull it all off; then he did the thing I thought he would've done in the first place; he heaved a large breath, removed his grip from his hair, and walked around the boxes and straight through the door. Neither Mara or I called out to him or tried to get him back into the warehouse; I knew how important his job was. He'd come back in enough time.

Both Mara and I sighed, leaning against the wall, facing the brown boxes in front of us. "What do you think's going on in there?" Mara wondered, after a few seconds of silence. "What do you think Eddie and Nina are talking about?"

"Probably us," I laughed, putting my hands behind my head in an attempt to relax. "He's probably telling her about how Mara and Alfie held him up. But . . . if Paul punishes him . . . it's not our fault, right?" I asked, a sudden guilt rushing through me.

"Of course it's our fault," Mara reasoned, not even bothering to look at me. "We held him up. But I don't think that Paul would punish him . . . he's been late a bunch of times, and I think we would know if he did something to Eddie . . . we would see a bruise or a scrape or something . . . I think he's safe. I think he's just talking about what he learned . . . whatever it is he learned."

"Yes," a different voice, other than Mara's or mine, growled.

A sudden jolt of shock burst through Mara and me, as we both stood up at the same time, only to see Paul, Nina's kidnapper and, techinally, Eddie himself, standing in front of the doorway that led to Shadowland.

Mara and I were both too shocked to speak; Paul was holding two people behind his back. One was Eddie . . . and the other was Nina.

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><p><strong>v v v<strong>

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><p>It wasn't anything completely dangerous. Paul wasn't threatening us with our lives or holding a knife to Eddie and Nina's throats; but his presence was scary enough. It didn't help that he was holding two of the strongest people I knew behind his back, and neither of them were doing anything to try to get away.<p>

I kind of understood why Nina wasn't thrashing; she'd been trapped behind that damn door for over a month. She was most definitely exhausted; not to mention it was midnight, and all she probably wanted to do was go to sleep. I doubted she'd be sending one of us a dream after this. But Eddie not doing anything surprised me; he was just pacing, full of energy and determined to get through that door and see if Nina was okay and to report to Paul about what he learned. Through it all, even though Sibuna was trusting him, he still had a job to fulfill.

And the two people behind Paul's back weren't even talking, much less looking at each other. Eddie was staring at us, trying to tell us something; but I was too overcome with fear to understand what he was trying to say. He was blinking quickly, three times in a row, sometimes quickly and other times longer — but I still had no idea.

Then there was Nina; it was the first time I had seen her out in the real world since October 17th. It was November 22nd now; it had been over a month. She was wearing the same clothes she had gone missing in; I was sure that if Amber was here with me, however scared she might have been, she would've been revolted that Nina had worn the same clothes for over a month.

She wasn't looking at us; her eyes were facing the bare, concrete floor, as if she wanted to look at anything but us. It sounded cheesy, but all I really wanted was for her to look up and meet my eyes; to know that she was still alive, that her heart was still beating, that Sibuna hadn't wasted their time over a ghost that was appearing in our dreams.

But the protector and the protectee weren't looking at each other; the infamous duo, the pair that had gone through literally everything in a twenty-two day period, wasn't even sparing each other glances.

"What do you want?" Mara spoke up; the bravest thing either of us had said all evening. "If . . . if you're going to kill them, you'll have to kill us first!"

Paul chuckled; a dark laugh that sent shivers down my spine. "Oh, you silly, silly girl," he grinned, making me want to punch it right off of his face. "I think you well know that I won't be killing either one of them, because of my own reasons. Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"What are you even doing here?" I growled, stopping Paul from going wherever he aimed to go. "If Eddie already told you what he knows . . . then . . . there's no reason for you to—"

"To do what?" Paul questioned, his British accent dripping. All I wanted to do was look away, to make sure that Eddie and Nina were okay; but when he looked at me, I could've sworn I saw Fabian. I knew it wasn't him — the real Fabian Rutter was safe and sound in Anubis House, sleeping tightly in his bedroom — but Paul almost looked identical to Fabian right then and there. He had the same messy, dark-brown hair and the same pale-blue eyes; I could tell why Nina despised him so much. I would hate my kidnapper, too, if he looked like my best friend.

"To do nothing," I concluded, looking down at the floor, just as Nina was doing. I knew then why she considered the floor so endearing; anything was better to look at then Paul. "Nothing at all."

"What do you plan to do with them, then?" Mara snapped, standing up for me, amazing me once more. I could never be that daring, as to stand up to someone who scared the shit out of me. I'd be utterly terrified, too scared for my life to make a move. It made me even more proud to call Nina my friend; I didn't wonder how she had survived a month without cracking yet.

Mara's question seemed to legitimately confuse him; just for a second, he loosened his grip on Eddie and Nina's wrists to stare down at the floor, pondering his answer to my question. Eddie, while Paul was coming to, caught my gaze, and I knew what he was thinking. He wanted me to take a risk and attack Paul, so we could get Nina out of the warehouse and out of Paul's grasp forever; but I shook my head no, and I was sure that if Eddie had both hands, he would've grabbed his hair again. All he wanted was for Nina to be safe, and I was denying him that.

He sighed as Paul finally lifted his head up; but instead of telling me off, he pointed his crooked finger at my face and released both Nina and Eddie's wrists. Eddie was cradling his wrist in his other hand, while Nina seemed too shocked to do anything — maybe it was the realization that she was free, she was out of Shadowland, she could get out —

But then Paul approached her; she cowered, screamed, and hid her head in her hands. Paul growled something into her ear that I couldn't hear; but before I could question him, he walked back into the door and slammed it, leaving Eddie and Nina out in the open.

Silence ensued between the four of us. I was too afraid to say something; afraid that if I cracked a joke and ruined the moment, Eddie and Mara would yell at me, and Nina just wouldn't say anything at all; other than she scream she uttered when Paul came to her, I hadn't heard a single sound out of her mouth since she stepped through that door.

And that was strange; last year, she used to talk a lot, bossing us around; her bossy nature was something I needed. It was something to direct me and tell me what I needed to do, where I needed to be. Without Nina, I'd be completely lost. It was a wonder that I was still in Sibuna, with her being gone.

"Um," Eddie muttered, the first word any of us had spoken since Paul left. "I...should go." He shot Nina an apologetic look before turning to me and Mara; he met my gaze again, silently telling me what to do. He rubbed Nina's arm reassuringly, and Nina tried for a smile as he started to walk out; but when she realized that Eddie was leaving, she gripped his arm like a cat hanging on to the side of the bathtub so it wouldn't have to be soaked in water.

"Don't go," she cried, her voice desperate and broken. It sounded like she hadn't spoken in days. "I need you here."

Eddie grinned guiltily before kissing her forehead; after that, his footsteps echoed around the warehouse as he opened the front door with a _reeeeeeeeaaaaaak_ and walking out of the building, into the forest, aimed for Anubis House.

We were alone.

"Nina?" Mara called, leaning against the walls, no boxes in between us. "Are you okay?"

She didn't answer, but I could have sworn that just for a second, her gaze traveled to us. I shared another look with Mara, and, once again, we were both thinking the same thing. We needed to be gentle around her.

Nina stayed still, bouncing on her heels; I could tell that she had absolutely no idea what to do, now that she was out of Paul's grasp; it must have been too much for her. I'd hate to think what was going on in her head...it would break Fabian's heart. He was already heartbroken after what happened in his last couple of dreams; what would happen now, if he was here?

"Don't be afraid," I attempted, slowly moving closer and closer to her, even though she wouldn't look at me. "It's alright, Nina. It's just us. We're not going to hurt you..."

When she still didn't answer, I knew something was wrong. I repeated Mara's question and, much to my amusement, she responded to _me_ instead of her. "Fine," her voice was barely above a whisper. I could tell she hadn't used her voice much in the last couple of days. "Just fine. Peachy. Wonderful. Great."

She loosened her body so she wasn't so stiff anymore. Mara saw that movement and took the chance, walking at a normal pace towards her. Luckily, she didn't back away. "Are you sure?" Mara called; Nina nodded, which only gave us more confirmation to move closer to her.

Eventually, we arrived at her side. Nothing seemed to change; she was wearing the same clothes, she still had the same curly (but somehow not matted) hair, and her skin didn't seem to have any scrapes or bruises. I thought a lot of that, actually; but Mara brushed my thought aside when she grunted.

"Ugh," she complained, tenderly grabbing a stray thread from her school sweater. "Nina, how long have you been in this outfit?"

"Um," she thought for a second, tapping her foot on the concrete; her final answer was, "Technically a month. Why?"

"Because," Mara looked about ready to scream, shake her hands to get all the germs off of them, and throw that school uniform out the window. It was the same clothes I recognized from all those days of school; the same grey overcoat, white t-shirt with red and yellow striped tie, and a grey ruffled skirt. "Oh, this is so gross! I can't even look at this anymore, or I'm going to throw up . . . . Nina, I'm going back to the house to get you some new clothes. And some food..." She muttered the last part to herself.

When Nina held up her hands to stop her, Mara held up a finger and shouted, "Nuh uh. Don't even try that. Alfie, you stay here with her. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Then Mara left, and we were alone again. Nina began to awkwardly dance on her heels again, as if we were strangers she was forced to bond with because our parents were friends.

"Sooo," I sang, trying to imitate her little dance. "Guess it's just us."

"Yup," was Nina's response, and nothing more.

"Just us," I tried to convince her to send me out to get Mara again. I couldn't last fifteen minutes alone with the girl who had gone missing a month ago, the girl who I barely spoke to before I was made a part of Sibuna last year. "Just the two of us. Alone. In a warehouse. _Without Eddie_."

"Yup," she said again, making me want to strangle her so she didn't say anything to make me more guilty.

"So what's up?" was my attempt to make small talk. I knew it was a stupid attempt, but really, I'd try anything to get over this awkward state.

"Oh, you know, nothing," she finally looked up from the floor to meet my gaze for the first time since she was dragged out of that door. "Just standing in this warehouse talking to you. Look, Alfie," she finally made eye contact with me. "I'm fine. Seriously. I know you think I'm not fine, but I am. I've survived a month in this place, and I can survive another month, and another month after that. I'm a tough cookie. Don't worry about me."

"I wasn't, really," I admitted, scratching the back of my head, trying to look like I had never worried about her at all. "I mean . . . I just . . . you're —"

She laughed weakly. "It's fine, Alfie. I know. Now...do you know when Mara is going to get back?" I shrugged in response, and Nina sighed, leaning against the wall of the warehouse. Being in here made me want to punch a wall; it made me remember Rufus, and how he kidnapped Patricia. It seemed like kidnapping was a strong suit of Liverpool.

"Not really," I continued, as Nina wasn't saying anything either. "If she's running, she shouldn't take long. But . . . while we're here, alone . . . you have anything to tell me?"

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You know...any new information? Fabian would be grateful, if you could tell us anything new."

"Right..." she muttered to herself, pacing around in a tiny circle. She kept moving her feet back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It was almost making me dizzy. "Um...well..."

"If you don't know anything, it's fine," I tried to persuade her, moving my hands around to exaggerate my point. While I knew she didn't know much, I also knew the _Fabian_ comment had made her uncomfortable. Amber had told me that Nina broke up with Fabian at her own free will; the sound of her ex-boyfriend's name, her best friend, the one she came to for everything, must have made her uneasy. "I'm not going to force you to say something if you don't know anything."

"No, I do!" she raised her voice. It was the first time in a month I had heard her yell; the last time I heard her voice that high was in September, when Jerome and I organized a "reunion food-fight" that would be the biggest of all the food fights we'd ever pulled, and I accidentally dumped a whole bowl of mashed potatoes in her hair. According to Amber, it took four hours to get all the potato out.

I didn't know why, but she almost seemed mad. She continued, "I do know something, I just...it's not really...informative."

"Of course it's informative," I explained, smirking, leaning against the warehouse wall again. I folded my arms against my chest as I continued, "Anything is informative, really. If you just said that Paul had been abusing you for the past month, then —"

"He's not abusing me," she muttered, almost inaudibly.

"Uuuugh," I groaned, rolling my eyes, and Nina looked insulted. "Come on, seriously? I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. I know where you got all the bruises, Nina, I —"

"No, I'm serious!" She wore an expression of multiple emotions; At first she was angry, then she was sad; the next minute she was desperate, and the next she was tired. There were so many emotions crossing her face that I almost couldn't tell what she was feeling. "I mean...I haven't really..._done_ anything for him to do something to me. Not to mention that he hasn't really been in Shadowland for the past couple of days...today was the first day he'd been in there for about a week. And...he thinks I've..._given up_ on the dreams, so he doesn't think you're getting any information, which is why he's not going in, not saying anything...I thought that if_ he_ thought I wasn't giving you information, he would say more to my face if he knew it wasn't getting passed on. Guess I was wrong."

"Is there anything, _anything_ at all that you can tell me?"

She shrugged, and I groaned again, rolling my eyes. "Come _on_, Nina! You're the one that's in there twenty-four seven! You have to have something for me to learn, some new information...?"

"All the things I could tell, you probably already learned," she muttered, mostly to herself, and that's when I realized I was being a jerk again. "I mean, usually, I could tell you something, but . . . not today. And I know you'd just pass on the information to Fabian, but after what he did to me — uh, I mean, what Paul did to me — I mean what he _didn't_ do to me — I mean, uh —" Silence.

I sighed, licking my lips. "Well," I muttered, staring down at the floor, finally realizing that the color of the concrete _did_ seem somewhat interesting. "Okay, then. What should we do now?"

"I don't know," Nina admitted; after she announced that, we were both silent. I didn't feel the need to say anything; if she didn't know anything, why was I here? Our whole goal was to learn information so we could get her out of there and back to Anubis House. We already knew where the entrance to Shadowland was. We knew what Eddie's connection to her and the place was. We knew there was a curse, we knew the entrance was closed, we knew her locket was a signal...

I didn't realize that we had been silent for that long when Mara came running back into the warehouse, panting.

"Jesus," she wheezed, leaning on her legs to keep her steady. "I didn't think...that the run...was that long...and my parents are Olympic champions..."

"Yeah, now you see my pain," I smirked, grabbing the clothes from her hand and handing them to Nina. She now wore an expression of shock and disbelief; it even made me wonder what was going on. I thrust the clothes back in her face, and she leaned back so she wouldn't have to look or smell at them.

"Come on, Nina, it's not my clothes," I joked, holding them out for her again. There was a black and white, long-sleeved shirt; the same shirt she wore on her first day here, the day of '_Hi! I'm Nina! I'm from America_!' and the day when Patricia poured water all over her jeans and sweater. "Just take it."

"No, I don't want to —" But after a long are-you-serious stare from me to her, she groaned. "Gimme it," she muttered, then walked back inside the door to change from her old school uniform to the new clothes Mara had brought.

"How can she get in there?" Mara wondered, and I shrugged; one of the answers I was forbidden to know as a Seeker. Mara continued, "What happened while I was gone?"

"Nothing, really," I told her. "We discussed . . . um . . . well . . . I don't know."

I remained silent while Mara began to breath her way back to recovery. When all the air was finally back in her lungs, she turned to me and said, "What did you talk about? It was only a little while ago. You can't have forgotten_ already._"

"Well . . ." I scratched the back of my head; when I opened my eyes again, Mara was staring at me, with her hands on her hips. "Oh, don't give me that look. I tried to get something out of her, okay?"

"You mean you didn't get _anything_ _at all_?"

"How could I? You weren't there with me, and I could scrounge anything out of her!"

"It doesn't matter that I wasn't there! You were in Sibuna with her last year!"

"_It doesn't matter_ that I was in Sibuna with her last year! I'm an awkward potato and I could barley get her to talk about . . . anything!"

"Anything?"

"_Anything_!"

"I don't believe you."

"Well, you should, because I'm telling the —"

"STOP IT!"

Both heads turned the door we had been previously staring at; but instead of just a blank blue color, there was white and black in front of it, too. Nina had changed into the first outfit she wore; making me nostalgic for the times we had before there was a Cup of Ankh, before she was kidnapped off the side of the road and dragged to this warehouse.

"Stop it," Nina continued, her voice lowered. "I've heard enough yelling in a month to last me my entire life. I don't need you two to fight too. There's no reason to fight, nor is there anything I can tell you. I really haven't learned anything..."

"You just told Joy yesterday that Eddie might know the answer to why the entrance has been closed," Mara reasoned, her mad look now softening. "He was just here with us, but —"

"He probably won't tell you anything," Nina shrugged guiltily, leaning against the wall, like most of us had been doing in the past hour or two. "If I know him, he won't want to tell anyone. He's been secretive, even around me . . . I don't know what he's hiding, but maybe you could scrounge it out of him or something."

Silence ensued after that, as neither one of us spoke up, even after she waved her hands for us to say something; Nina began to play with the hem of the black and white striped sweater, as if we were never here at all.

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><p><strong>v v v<strong>

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><p><strong>AN: Paige, you out there?**

**I could've extended this chapter a little longer; I actually figured out how to include the Peddie, but I got bored, not to mention I had a new idea for a fic for a new fandom...anyway, the Peddie /will/ be in the next chapter, I swear. Like, I SWEAR. There will be Peddie. I don't know when the next update will be, but I'll try to pre-write as well.**

**Some notes: I lost the outline for this story, but I'm currently re-writing the outline. It's proving to be shorter than the original one, so now this story will have about 58-60 chapters instead of the original 65. **


	43. To Protect the Secrets of Anubis House

**A/N: My stupid fuckass brother was doing a wheelie on his bike, then the handlebar smashed into his stomach; as a result of that, he's in the hospital currently. Which means that I get the day off from school, so I can do all the writing I want! (And play all the Harvest Moon I want.)**

**...I might have missed another six weeks. I don't know why; this story has become really hard to write lately. I've been trying, but...meh. The Peddie has been difficult to shape into the plotline as well...I'm sorry if this chapter seems weak Peddie-wise, because I tried my best to keep them in character while also keeping the plotline in mind.**

**Once upon a time, Alex Sawyer tweeted something along the lines of "Not only do we read the fanfictions, we act them out too", and now I live in constant fear that the cast has read or seen Don't Be Afraid, considering how long it's been around...and, people, if you ever feel the need to re-read this story somewhere in the future, please don't think the first 20 chapters will be good. Because, really, they suck. And so do 20-29. 30-39 sucks too. This whole story sucks. You 100 people are desperately lost.**

**BREAKING NEWS: I finished the outline for this story, finally. It's officially going to have 62 chapters, but the last 6 chapters are more like an epilogue. So really, the story has 56 chapters, which means that this plot has 13 chapters left, but the story itself has 19. It's going to move REALLY fast from now on, so pay extra attention so you don't get lost!  
><strong>**~Lia****  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Eddie<strong>  
><strong>November 23rd, 2011 1:19 AM<strong>

My life had been one big mess since I stepped off the plane.

Maybe if I had avoided my dad, if I hadn't waited for him, he wouldn't have dragged me to Shadowland. I wouldn't be in the mess I was in now; I wouldn't have to spy on people I had just met for the evil counterpart of myself. I wouldn't be so concerned about a person I'd known for less than a month. I would be living in Anubis House, making friends with people, talking to Fabian and Mick about which cars were popular in Los Angeles. I'd be eating Trudy's cooking and I'd never know that the person who had lived in Anubis House, the person who's spot I was replacing, went missing a month before I arrived.

There were times when I thought my life would be better if I hadn't waited for my dad in the airport; because, if I was being honest, my life would be 100% simpler, calmer, and less complicated. Then came the days where I was grateful that I had waited for my dad, because I had met my one long-lasting friend in the strangest place anyone could think of.

Maybe Fabian wasn't my "BFF", but I could tell he sincerely wanted to be friends with me, despite the consequences. Fabian was the kind of person that, if he wasn't so shy, could make friends with a tree; he didn't like fighting against his roommate, thinking I was on "Team Evil".

I had heard Fabian talk about that during a meeting with his gang. I didn't know what Team Evil was, but I guessed it was me and Paul. How wonderful.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets as I climbed the hill away from the warehouse. I didn't really want to leave Nina alone with her old housemates (I had never thought of it that way before, since I had always referred to everyone as my housemates — one year previous, Nina had probably referred to them as _my housemates_ and _my friends_, and now she was making enemies out of her former friends.) but I knew she had some things to talk to them about the whole Dream business, and I also knew she wouldn't want to talk about it in front of me.

I had only known Nina for twenty-two days, but after spending so much alone time with her, I pretty much knew her like the back of my hand. I knew she wore a green ring on her finger because it was her dead mother's, I knew she always drank 2% milk, that she never climbed stairs without holding on to the railings, she preferred Trudy's cooking over anyone else's, she was originally from Florida, and she had an obsession with Jesse McCartney.

Maybe it was because I spent half of my day spying on people, but I also learned about Nina's former housemates, as well; I knew Fabian had (literally) eight guitars in his room, Mick could play every sport except Badminton, Alfie had a collection of Katy Perry CD's under his bed, Jerome was horrible at hiding keys, Amber had twelve makeup kits hidden in her closet, Mara was obsessed with Tinker Bell, Patricia was [an annoying bitch] an amateur thief, Trudy didn't know how to make anything but toast for breakfast and Victor was so punctual his idea of world domination was everyone in the world in bed by ten PM. I knew so much about Anubis House and its residents that I could hold it against them.

"Gah!"

Someone interrupted my thoughts by rudely and uncouthly and presumptuously knocking me over to the ground; I don't remember the way down, but when I opened my eyes, the thing right in front up above me was the moon, shining brightly over the small country of England.

"You've got to be kidding me," sneered the voice I was all too familiar with; the one, the only, Patricia Williamson. Of all people, I had to run into _her_ in the middle of the woods.

I brushed the soot and dirt off my jeans when I stood up, ignoring the person with her hands on her hips, waiting for me to say something. I purposefully started picking at the dirt under my fingernails just to aggravate her, until she took matters into her own hands by speaking up. "Eddie, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I retorted playfully. I couldn't take Patricia seriously anymore. She was like a lost puppy, wandering around for some closure, since she was the only one out of the other Anubis students to not get a dream, and she wanted to know why her "friend" was being so "cruel" to her and not to the person she'd spoken to one time last year.

She blew some sand off her nose and spared a glance my way. "I'm doing just what you think I'm doing. What about you?"

I blinked, then guffawed. Patricia's expression was a mix of shock and confusion, but it eventually merged into understanding and annoyance. "You can stop visiting as often as you do," she muttered, mostly to herself. "I mean, now that you're Sibuna's ally, and all."

For some reason, it didn't shock me to agree with Patricia's words; earlier that morning, I had been dueling with myself whether or not to go into Shadowland tonight, to report to Paul and see Nina again. Then I realized that it was stupid and I'd _have_ to go in, before anyone had to confront death before their time.

"I guess," I told her. "I already went in, though. And let me guess: You wanted to go there right now."

She huffed, evidently miffed. It was fun to watch.

"No," was her final answer, making me roll my eyes and chuckle the slightest bit.

"What?" Patricia retorted, her lost puppy look making a reappearance. "You think you know me, don't you? You think I'm an open book. You think you're so smart. Well, bucko, guess what? You don't know me. And you'll never know me."

"Were you just trying to get to the warehouse in the middle of the night, when I told Sibuna specifically to all stay home?"

She remained silent, and in response, I laughed and walked past her. I expected to hear the crunching of leaves coming from behind me; when I turned around because of the silence, the cracking of leaves was evident, but only because Patricia was walking away from me.

"Hey! Wait up!" I called, the deaths of the already deceased moaning in pain as I ran onto the yellow, red, and orange leaves on the forest ground.

She turned around, facing me, her glowing red hair looking a shade of brown (sort of...chestnut?) as it flung around her head, the midnight air blowing thin strands across her face. "What?" she growled, her expression intensified from when I last saw it, seven seconds ago. "What could you possibly want?" But she already knew the answer to my question, so when I ignored her, she stormed off in the same direction she was going as if I was never there at all.

"I'm going into that warehouse," she finalized, without having me fighting her. "I don't care what you say. I'm going to break that door down and get Nina out myself. I'm sick of watching everyone freak out before they have to go to bed because they're afraid they might get a dream, I'm sick of going to school and the only thing we talk about is stupid dreams; I'M SICK OF IT! I'm going to get Nina out of there myself, if that's what it takes."

"Well, good luck," I told her, my voice shaking only the tiniest bit, "Because the door is locked."

"I'll break it open," she reasoned, ignoring my explanation as to how Paul always locked it, how he would know if I brought a juicebox in with me, and he'd punish me because I split Fruit Punch CapriSun all over the tiled floor — but she didn't listen. She mocked me by moving her thumb and fingers together in an attempt to recreate the "talking" motion, however unsuccessful it might have been.

I attempted to slow her down in multiple ways, but she didn't seem to notice and/or care. By the time she moved a branch out of her way, promptly smashing it into my face, she stopped ranting about how I was "annoying, rude, uncouth, and presumptuous". I moved the branch out of my field of view, ignoring the sting that the smack had caused, scratching my cheek, only to see the warehouse standing in front of me.

It was more of my home than Anubis House. Hmm. Home Sweet Home.

"Hey, Patricia, wait!" I called, running up to her and stopping her before she could open the door. She turned around to face me with a glare strong enough to bend metal, but I didn't care. I took a deep breath, long enough for Patricia to open the door and slip inside, but she didn't even touch the door handle.

"Okay," I began, "Patricia, I know what you want to do. You want to go inside the warehouse."

"Well, duh," she mocked, "Didn't I tell you that before?"

"Well—" her weak snotty retort shocked me for only a moment. "Well—just think about it. You and Nina are very similar."

"We're unsimiliar in the fact that if _I_ was the one trapped in there, if _I_ was the one sending dreams, _I would send Nina a fucking dream_!"

"Precisely."

"_What_?"

I enjoyed seeing her knickers in a twist.

"Fabian told me about last year—" I ignored her eye roll "—and he told me about how you were so worried about the fact that your house guardian might have murdered your best friend that you never considered the fact that the new girl, the girl who just wanted to make a friend in the scary world on England, the person who had just flew halfway around the world only to be accused of murdering someone who she had never seen before — you two are similar, but you're also polar opposites — but you and Nina are two of the strongest people I've ever known, and I've only known you two for less than a month.

"I also heard about the time when you were kidnapped by Rufus Zeno for three days, how you never attempted to fight in any way. What if you were in Nina's position right now? What if Rufus had taken you a bit deeper into the warehouse, through that door and into Shadowland, cursed you so you couldn't leave, and were forced to send dreams to people you barely knew so you could live? How would you feel if your only company was someone who you barely see, who you just realized was betraying you by working for the man who kidnapped you?"

She licked her lips, thinking her answer through.

After a few seconds of waiting, Patricia finally responded with, "Well, for one thing, I'd send Nina a dream."

I had to resist the urge to strangle her, but Patricia seemed to realize the mistake in what she was saying. "Well...I was only trapped in this warehouse for three days...it's a short time compared to Nina's month and a week." she sighed, and scratched the back of her head. "I know, personally, the people I'd send the dreams to first: Joy, Alfie, Jerome, Mara, so on and so forth...but if I really was trapped in there, if I was getting yelled at every day and the only person I could see is you: I..."

"You'd be in love with me?" I played around, making Patricia slap my arm rather roughly, but all I did was wink and let her finish her speech; which, however, she didn't do.

Patricia placed her hand on the barred windows, standing on her tiptoes to peek into the warehouse; I tried to lean on the door to listen to whatever Alfie, Mara, and Nina were talking about, but to no avail. To my left, I heard Patricia muttering to herself about "no field of view" which I ultimately took as the idea that she couldn't see what was going on.

It was when that I knew that Patricia wasn't just an annoying bitch who wanted revenge on her friend for keeping her out of the loop. She wasn't a snotty teenager who kept her friends from seeing their heartbreaker boyfriends just because she had a small crush on them. She was something else entirely; she wasn't like any of the girls I had kissed back when I still lived in America.

She wasn't like Carissa, or Melanie, or Rosella, Cayla, Wendy, Chloe, Emily, or Mary. She was _totally_ something else entirely.

All she wanted right now was confirmation that her friend didn't hate her, that she was still alive and it wasn't just one big huge nightmare, that she wouldn't wake up on the morning of October 18th, 2011, and realize that Nina was sitting at the breakfast table, holding hands with Fabian, smiling like an idiot, not trapped in some alternate dimension, not forced to send dreams, and instead safe and sound in Anubis House.

Patricia slid her hands off the metal bars and placed them in her jean pockets, walking away without another word.

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>

_I'd heard the best way to start the day was getting up feeling refreshed, and that's how I felt on the morning of October 17th, 2011._

_The electronic clock, screaming at Mick and me in the still dark morning, blarped its way into our lives. The school required us to get up at 6 AM every day, much to Mick's displeasure, but as we'd been following that routine for the past four years, we began every day by groaning and lifting ourselves up off the bed, only to smash the alarm off with our palms and tear the blankets off our bodies, forcing ourselves to get out of bed to begin another dreadful day at school. _

_However, the past year had been different for me; in the first two weeks of the year previous, I thought it would be just another year spent fighting the flying potatoes and enduring Sweetie's boring science classes, but then Joy went missing and Nina came around and then suddenly my life was turned upside down with the news that there was "treasure" hidden inside the house. _

_My life had been ultimately boring up until that point; hearing Joy go on about how hot Taylor Lautner was and how she totally shipped Bella and Edward wasn't exactly "exciting" for me. Then, with the discovery that there was something that I hadn't realized, something that the teachers had been hunting all this time, something that had slipped my mind for five years, suddenly came true. The world wasn't as boring as it was told to be. Two people in the 1920's had excavated King Tut's tomb and smuggled artifacts back into the UK and hit the seven broken pieces in the House of Anubis._

_"UUUUuuuuggh," was Mick's first morning comment, throwing the covers off his body and stuffing his head back into his pillow. He was more than likely craving a block of cheese with a side dish of a bowl of fruit right now._

_Remembering that I had a girlfriend waiting for me in the kitchen, I tossed the covers off the side of the bed, undressed, and slipped into my school uniform. As soon as I tied the tie, I flipped my hair and walked out of the bedroom, leaving Mick's body half on the bed, and half on the ground, unwilling to get up and go to school, even though we were more than a month in already._

_"Good morning, Nina!" I greeted. "And, others," I mocked Mara, who noticed what I was doing, and blew a raspberry at me, looking over my shoulder to see if Mick had trailed along with me. I grabbed a muffin from Trudy's basket, leaned over to kiss Nina on the cheek, then sat down right next to her. _

_Nina sent Amber an _are-you-serious_ look when she held her hands together and bounced up and down in her seat. Alfie, however, looked just as excited as Amber had been, if not more. Nina ignored the two fanpeople, left the rest of the house to their business and turned to me, stealing my muffin without my permission._

_I didn't particularly care, though. I just smiled as she took a bite and placed the muffin on her plate instead of mine. "Ready to go to school?" she asked, just as Mick walked into the kitchen, looking very disgruntled and annoyed, his red tie over his shoulder and his grey pants inside-out._

_Chuckling, I shook my head no. "Never," I answered. As much as I liked education, going to school lately had been a chore. Nina refused to tell me where she hid the Cup of Ankh, whether playfully or truthfully, I couldn't know with her. Nina was as much of a mystery as she was the first day she came last year, in the middle of September. "I don't really want to go to school," I admitted, and Nina agreed with me. _

_Just as soon as I thought the mysteries were over, a new one arose...there was an Eye of Horus shaped mark on the elm tree where Sibuna used to meet, but last night, when Nina placed her locket to it, nothing happened. I didn't understand, and neither did anyone else, so we'd left the tree to its tree business. It was still haunting me. _

_Not to mention that I had an ominous feeling sitting in my chest; I felt like something bad was going to happen later. I didn't know why — the feeling was probably because Jerome and Alfie's annual prank of the year was scheduled for this week — but I felt like something big, something bad, was coming up, and I wasn't sure why._

_"So, did Rutter find his way out of the woods?" Jerome joked, tearing off a part of his toast with his teeth. _

_I laughed without humor, turning back to my girlfriend sitting next to me; but Nina didn't help much, because she was wearing a smug expression on her face. "Yes, he did," she commented, making me want to drag her out of the kitchen, sit her down and talk to her about what times talking was appropriate in the case of our relationship. "He had help, though."_

_I had the _biggest_ crush on Nina last year — as if no one could tell — and then in September, when we reunited in the attic, we had a date and it was pretty much the best date I'd ever gone on. Only a week later, after another few dates, I asked her to be my girlfriend, and she said yes. After that, we'd been a happy couple, kissing and hugging and eating each others muffins. We got lost on our way back from the elm tree last night, and Nina had helped me walk back to the House._

_"Oh, I know," Jerome commented, "By himself, I doubt Fabian would be able to find his way out a paper bag."_

_"Hey!"_

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 - 7:29 AM<strong>

Some things remained the same, while some differed from the morning of October 17th.

For one thing, Nina wasn't here. Joy was back and Eddie was new. The elm tree philosophy didn't have anything to do with our search at hand — but no one expected the mystery of the year to be deciphering dreams that Nina was sending us from an alternate dimension (that we could ultimately reach from the warehouse; she was under our nose the entire time, and no one even knew.)

Patricia, however, was still obsessed with Shreddies, the cereal she'd been eating since she was, what, six? She was chatting with Joy, while Alfie and Jerome were talking in whispers, evidently planning their next prank on Amber, the proclaimed beauty queen, making it obvious by checking her makeup with a mirror while sipping chocolate milk from a straw. Eddie was writing something on a napkin, Mara was reading under the table, and Mick was bouncing a small tennis ball on the table.

Through it all, none of us ever really changed that much.

I sat down in the second chair, since the head of the table taken by Eddie. I was too lazy to sneak a peek at his napkin, even though it could have given us need information; then again, it could have just been the amount of days Eddie had gone without shaving.

"Hey," he greeted, shoving the napkin in his pocket, doing the same thing with his ballpoint pen. "How are you? Did you have a dream last night?" I shook my head; Eddie nodded, and I wanted to say something in response, but Eddie didn't see. He continued, "Neither did I. But I attempted to visit last night, to no avail."

Again, I opened my mouth to speak, but Eddie took the privilege to. "Mara and Alfie are getting more annoying by the day, I'm telling you. They wouldn't let me through the door to speak to Nina and the _other one_." He sighed, shrugging. "Well, I guess I understand a little bit. But still, I'm like...the savior. I'm like Emma Swan. They should have let me through, and they didn't!"

I was getting really sick of Eddie by the time Trudy took our plates away and pushed us out the door so we weren't late for school. I kept opening my mouth to speak, but Eddie acted as if what he did last night was news breaking.

"So anyway," I eventually gave up as we neared the school, letting Eddie chat to his heart's content. "You said you didn't have a dream earlier, and neither did I. The others at the breakfast table didn't seem to be all that shocked or needy to get their information out in the open, and that sort of worries me."

"Why does it worry you?" I finally blurted out, quick as a fox jumping over a dog, somehow not surprising Eddie at all.

"Because," he stated simply, "I've been talking with Nina a lot recently. And, while in the beginning I believe she sent a dream every other day, she's been sending them every night as of lately. But yet, no one in the House got one last night."

"Maybe she was just tired?" I guessed, shrugging my shoulders. I opened the door to the school and held it open for Eddie to walk in after me, which he gratefully took. It was just a random act of kindness, since I desperately wanted to be friends with my other roommate, despite the consequences.

"I mean, I know Nina," I told him, even though there was a lingering suspicion in me that I was lying.

I had only known her for a year, after all. How well can you know someone after just a year together?

I supposed that it was possible to know someone in a year; I mean, that's 365 days to talk to them and learn where they were born, what their favorite color is, what they want to do when they finish school. And after a year residing with Nina every day, helping old ladies keep people from living forever, you could learn a lot about a person.

And I knew that Nina was born in California, her favorite color was green, and she wanted to be an archaeologist, after everything that had happened last year. And Nina also knew that I was born in Woolton, UK, my favorite color was red, and I wanted to be a scientist, which made perfect sense for both of us.

"I know her," I continued, after I saw that Eddie was waiting patiently for me to explain. "And I know how strong she is. Her and Patricia are two really tough cookies; but I don't consider Amber weak," I defended. "I know, after over a month of getting this stupid dreams, nothing is going to stop her. The guy who took her — I honestly have no idea what to call him as of late — could be holding a knife to her throat and she'd still send someone a dream."

"As long as you're sure," Eddie ventured, his eyes giving nothing away. I walked to my next class alone, but before Eddie entered, he turned around and walked through a door on the corner.

I could tell he didn't want anyone to see, but I knew that the headmaster was his father. I turned away, into English class with Mrs. Andrews, sitting down next to Amber.

"Hey," she greeted, grabbing her notebook out of her rucksack. "What's up?" she started to chat about how Alfie and she were trying to be a cute couple last night, and he ended up breaking her nail by accident when they were snuggling. I wasn't sure what had happened at the warehouse with Mara and Alfie last night, but Amber told me everything.

She couldn't specify completely, of course, because she wasn't there with the two of them; but from what Alfie told her, the two of them were staking out the warehouse for information on how to get in when Eddie interrupted their ritual of playing the alphabet game. Mara, Alfie, and Eddie argued for a few minutes before Eddie stalked through the door by himself, without permission, but Paul grabbed both Eddie and Nina and dragged them out the door with them.

Alfie told Amber how he and Nina talked for a little bit while Mara went off to the House to get some new, clean clothes for Nina — what I would have given to be in Alfie's place, just for a little while — but he didn't really learn anything new, expect that Paul thinks she stopped sending the dreams. From my knowledge, that could either lead to something groundbreakingly good, or groundbreakingly bad.

"Bonjour, classe!" Mrs. Andrews exclaimed, walking in through the door. I took a few books out of my bag, setting up for the lesson.

The school day was just like any other, if you compared.

Of course, nothing had been the same since Nina disappeared on the afternoon of October 17th; but however, nothing major could change. Mrs. Andrews wouldn't stop teaching English and French, Mr. Sweet wouldn't stop teaching English and Maths (but Mr. Winkler _did_ stop teaching History and Drama).

"Today, we will learn how to say romantic phrases," Daphne cooed, making some of the girls swoon; some of the guys even blushed as well. There was nothing wrong with that, but from having six years at this school, I knew that the girls from Isis House were some of the biggest romanticists I knew, yet none of them cooed, and all of them stayed around this one girl.

I had seen her before. She was American (No, Eddie and Nina weren't the _only_ Americans in the whole school), had dark skin, dark eyes, and wild brown hair that could have been mistaken for a tornado. I wasn't sure of her name, but I was sure that she _loved_ love (There was another redheaded girl in Isis House who was definitely a big hopeless romantic, but I didn't know either of them.

Mrs. Andrews started to repeat some phrases we already knew, like "je t'aime", meaning _I love you_, or "veux-tu m'épouser?", meaning _Will you marry me_? We had already learned these phrases in previous years, but we went over them every year.

"Repeat after me: _Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi_. I can't live without you." We repeated the phrase in a monotonous voice, and in boredom, I looked over to my left to see Amber writing the phrase "Alber" over and over again with a heart on either side.

"Huh," I whispered, grabbing her attention. "I could've sworn you liked the name Amfie better."

She chuckled softly, knowing that her girlish squeal would attract unwanted attention.

I remembered how Patricia considered Amber the dumbest one in Sibuna early on last year, when she convinced Nina to go see Rufus and came back knowing that Victor had just possibly killed her only source to find out if Joy was alive or dead. I had told her off, but none of us ever believed that Amber was the brains of Sibuna.

She was a lot smarter than we gave her credit for. Sure, she may not know how to divide imaginary numbers, but she sure knew how to charmspeak her way out of trouble. (Though "Ice cream brownies yum yum" while carrying bright red five-inch heels might not have been the best 'sleepwalking' evidence.) If she were a demigod, Amber would certainly be the daughter of Aphrodite.

"I do," she finally responded to me, after Mrs. Andrews wrapped up the class by saying, "au revoir!". "But I figured I'd better give the other name a chance, as well. I mean, I called Nina and you _Fina_ for a good half of the year before I realized that sounded utterly ridiculous. Then I called you Fabina!" she cheered.

"Don't start," I complained, a smug expression on my face, as Amber and I made our way to Mr. Sweet's class. Eddie didn't show his face all the way through French class, so I wasn't surprised when he suddenly appeared in Science. "Remember that scrapbook you made us, after you caught us sneaking out to listen to the recordings?"

"Oh yeah!" she agreed, setting her bag on the table. She shot Eddie a glare (I wasn't sure why but Amber was very passionate about the fact that Eddie was sitting in Nina's seat). And turned back to me. "That was fun to make, since there wasn't any photographs of you and Nina together at the time. I drew all of the pictures!"

I cringed, knowing that Amber was a horrible artist when she wasn't drawing anything related to our Sibuna search at hand.

"I'm _pretty_ sure you weren't that chubby—" she rambled on, talking about the scrapbook, before she saw Mr. Sweet walk in and decided to change the subject. "I think he has something to do with the search," she told me.

"How so?" I wondered, sparing a glance over at Eddie. He looked a bit lonely, just sitting there by himself. I was actually considering going over there and striking up a conversation with him out of pity, but before I could do that, Patricia took the liberty to walk away from where she was sitting next to Joy and sit across from Eddie at one of the lab tables. She looked like she wanted to initiate a prank war on Sweetie.

I eliminated the possibility of going over and talking to him, because he looked like he was deep in conversation with the oh-so-polite Patricia Williamson.

"Why do you think he's in on it?" I asked Amber, trying to walk back into our conversation as Mr. Sweet wrote today's lesson on the board. "And don't start with mocking Patricia again by saying _They've killed Joy_! because that's gotten old," I laughed again, along with Amber. Everything was easier with her than with everybody else, somehow.

"I don't know," was her groundbreaking explanation. "I just get this feeling. Remember when you had the Dream Log taken away, and we tried to get it back by sneaking into the school on a weekend? We heard Mr. Sweet talking with the new teacher, right? He was saying something about how he didn't want to work for Paul in the first place, but he had to get his son — Eddie — involved to make sure 'we all stayed alive' like our reality was a horror film or something. I just think he has a secret, like he always does."

I knew she was talking about last year, how he kept the secret about Joy's sudden disappearance a secret so he could be granted eternal life, along with the other six society members. We had learned to not trust the teachers, therefore not telling them about Nina's disappearance originally.

I started to take notes on the lesson Sweetie was teaching this afternoon, but as it was something I'd already learned previously, but soon enough, the same dark-skinned girl I was thinking about earlier raised her hand.

"Mr. Sweet?" she asked, making the teacher nod for her to continue. "Is there such thing as a curse?"

That grabbed my attention.

"I don't understand what you mean, KT," Sweetie ventured, pressing her on, while also teaching me her name. "What kind of curse? Are you referring to a swear word or something like an ancient Egyptian curse placed on whomever dared to enter Tutankhamen's tomb?"

That saddled my attention and buckled it in.

"I'd venture to say an ancient Egyptian curse," KT told him, making Mr. Sweet set down his dry erase marker. "I don't really know how to phrase this correctly...well, last night I had this weird dream."

As if on cue or instinct, the four original Sibunas whipped their heads around so we were looking at each other. Eddie's eyes looked as big as Bugsy's, while Jerome, Joy, and Mara glanced around awkwardly, like they didn't know what to do or where to go, like a lost toddler in a corn maze.

Mr. Sweet looked a bit uncomfortable, but he pressed KT on. She continued, "I don't know how to explain the dream, but I figured _you_ of all people could explain it. You're one of the smartest people I know. So, anyway, I had this dream, right? And there was a girl in it. She looked about my age, and was wearing this black and white sweater."

At her comment, both Mara and Alfie winced.

"And...she told me, and I quote, 'I know how to get out of here'. I don't really understood what she meant, or where 'here' is, because I didn't get a good look at where she was, but does the dream mean anything? Like, do you think it has a secret meaning that can be interpreted through the stars or something?"

I looked down at my bag, where the Dream Log was sitting. I could write all of this down now. Maybe KT or Mr. Sweet didn't know what Nina meant, but Amber, Patricia, Alfie and I sure did. If she knew how to get out of there — if Mara and Alfie were wrong — we could possibly get her out and finish this whole search tonight.

There would be no more dreams. No more sleepless nights wondering who was going to get a dream and what we were going to learn. No more stakeouts, no more distrust of the teachers, and _especially_ no more dreams. Everything could go back to normal, to the way it was back before Nina was grabbed off the side of the road by Mr. Winkler, who was essentially Eddie in his worst possible form.

It didn't surprise me that it had taken Sibuna over a month to reach all this information.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rush," Mr. Sweet apologized, looking quite nervous. "I have absolutely no idea what that dream means."

"But I've never seen that girl before!" KT continued to fight, somehow sure that the dream she had meant something. And she was sure as hell right, but I didn't want to tell her that.

Amber and I looked at each other as if we were having a staring contest to the death. I could tell we both wanted the same thing; to corner this KT girl and ask her what she knew. If she could tell us, we could get Nina out and back in Anubis House.

I wanted to just get up and ask her right there and then, but KT wasn't finished. "I know your brain can't make up things you haven't seen before. Maybe I've seen that girl before, maybe I've just glanced her in the hallways or something, but everything else I had no idea about! How is that possible?"

Mr. Sweet was saved from explaining by the bell; I couldn't think of how awful it would be for him if he had to explain that with the help of his fellow teacher, he kidnapped a student off the side of the road, dragged her to a warehouse where a crazy man obsessed with immortal life had once kept Patricia Williamson hostage, barely fed her, and forced her to send dreams to people she wanted to protect, seeming as she had already cursed them once.

Waiting for Patricia and Alfie to walk up next to me and Amber, we shouldered our bags and walked out of the door. True, we should have been walking to Drama class in the student lounge with Ms. Fitzgerald, the teacher who had replaced Mr. Winkler. Jerome, Joy, and Mara caught our gazes as they passed us, but didn't stop.

Jerome was more comfortable than Joy and Mara were with the whole "Sibuna" concept, because of the whole Rufus and Cup of Ankh shenanigans last year. Mara and Joy, however, couldn't be less comfortable. I both wanted them to be a part of Sibuna, and all the while I didn't; a small part of me wanted to go back to the start, when it was just Amber, Nina and me, listening to Sarah's voice recordings from the 1920's up in the phonograph in the attic.

I barely went up there anymore. The last time I had been up in the attic was when Amber forced me to stay in there on the first day of term, then pushed Nina in as well so we could reunite in a private place. And, I had to admit, she really was the love guru, just like Jerome was Captain Spaghetti.

Our small group of Alfie, Amber, Patricia and myself began to walk to drama class with Ms. Fitzgerald, but luckily we ran into KT on the way. After everything she had just said about the dream she had last night, I knew something must be up. Nina wouldn't just send a dream to a random person...would she?

"Hey," I greeted, moving my bag up a bit so it wouldn't fall down my arm. "KT, right?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, checking to see if something was still in her bag. "What's up? You guys are from Anubis House, right?"

We nodded, and Alfie decided to take initiate for once. "Yeah, we are. But we came to talk to you about the thing you were telling Mr. Sweet about, the dream you had."

KT groaned, which was a completely different reaction than what I was expecting. I was half expecting her to realize that we were in on it too, that every night Nina had 'forgotten' to send someone a dream, she was really sending it to KT.

But KT didn't say anything like that. "Don't tell me you came in here to make fun of me," she complained, shoving a textbook into her flannel bag. "The guys at Isis House, where I live, have done that enough already. Don't tell me you wouldn't complain at the breakfast table if you had a dream like that!"

"I wouldn't know," Patricia muttered bitterly to herself, but Amber cut her off with, "Well, we would. And we know, KT. We know."

"You don't know!" KT exclaimed, surprising me even further. She was nothing like I was expecting (though it was more of a bad impression than a good one). "You don't know anything. Were you in my mind? Did you actually feel like you were in that dream, like you were being brought to that place? No. I didn't think so."

Amber continued, but not before Alfie and I shared knowing, amused looks. It didn't even occur to me at that moment that Amber and I had been the ones to receive the most dreams; Mara, Jerome, Alfie, Mick, and Joy had only received one dream each, while in total I had ten, Amber had three, and the rest only one had, which equals a total of seventeen dreams. Seventeen dreams in thirty-seven days. She missed twenty days; twenty days that could have been used to give dreams but she chose not to.

"We know more than you think we do," Amber said, laughing and trying to sound ominous at the same time. "Trust me. If you would just let us explain, then you'll know everything you need to know about the dream you had last night."

"So you're saying that it meant something."

"That's pretty much exactly what we're saying," Patricia announced, shrugging. "Then again, _I wouldn't know_, considering the _circumstances_—"

"Okay, Patricia, that's enough," I laughed weakly, rubbing her back in a circle, trying to assure KT that Patricia didn't belong in a mental institution. "KT, just let us talk, and you'll know everything, I promise. Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you, nor will the dreams hurt you, we promise. You won't even have to tell anyone; that's how un-serious it is. We'll tell you what they mean if you tell us what this girl said in your dream."

"Well, if you're sure," KT murmured, slamming her locker shut and following us into the drama classroom/student lounge. Ms. Fitzgerald greeted the classroom with a weird tone on that morning, but no one really noticed; neither did I, at first.

"Okay," she began, laying out her blue textbook in front of her with sheets of "Romeo & Juliet" laying on top. We had been studying the play more in depth in the past few weeks, even though we had practiced the play before (And we still had to remind Amber that "thou art truly the yummiest boy I have ever seen" _still_ wasn't a line in the play, no matter how hard she tried to convince us it was.)

Ms. Fitzgerald bid the class a quick hello before moving on to sorting through papers. Alfie continued to glance over at Mara, like he wanted to initiate a conversation with her. KT slammed her books on the table and faced the four of us, the original Sibuna — plus Alfie and minus Nina — and sucked in a deep breath of air.

"Don't think that I know everything," she commanded, first things first. "I don't. I don't think I've ever seen that girl before in my life, if that makes any sense, even though I know that's illogical. You said you wanted me to tell you what the girl said in this weird-ass dream I had last night, even though _that_ doesn't make any sense either, but whatever. As long as you tell me what they mean."

She rolled her eyes, and I almost yelled at her to get on with it.

"She told me she 'knew how to get out'. Whatever that means. She also mentioned a curse, somewhere in her speech, too...? I wasn't listening through most of it, because I was trying to figure out where I was, because it actually didn't feel like a dream at all; but the basic gist of her speech was that she knows the secret to getting out of wherever she is, as if she couldn't get out in the first place."

I had to resist the urge to punch a kitten, I was so excited.

KT asked Sibuna to explain what the dreams meant, and, rather guiltily, we told her a lie about how we were playing her, how it was a dare from Alfie to come over here and pretend to believe like her dream meant anything, which, _obviously_, it did not.

However, I felt guilty as I watched KT walk off with a disgusted facial expression; ignoring all the rules of Sibuna, I sprinted away from Alfie, Amber, and Patricia, and over to where KT was walking to her next class once the bell had rung.

I stuttered while asking her, of course, but I was 95% sure she got my gist. She accepted my invitation to tea at Anubis House anyway; I knew I was the brains of Sibuna, and I knew I should have been agreeing with what they were saying, that it was better than KT didn't know anything and just pretended like that strange dream she had never happened, act like we weren't offended that Nina had picked, out of the nine of us, a girl who was from a different house and her first year, of all people.

KT only smiled and nodded, and that was when I realized, with a little help from Amber's metal-bending glare, that I had just organized a date with some other different girl.

* * *

><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Jerome<strong>  
><strong>Thursday, November 24th, 2012 1:12 AM<strong>

I knew all of this already, so none of it was new as Alfie and I fell straight into the place of infinite nightmares.

"Maybe if we bring apple pie, it'll stop the hard fall?" Alfie suggested, joking around, but a voice above us gasped and asked, "Apple pie? Where?"

"I'm kidding!" Alfie exclaimed, pushing himself up off the floor groggily, as if he had just been sleeping for the past eight hours and was rudely awoken by Trudy banging on the door with a frying pan. "I'm kidding. It was a joke. There's no apple pie. Sorry to get your hopes up."

I brushed some of the soot off of my jeans, and got the first glance of Nina's face; she didn't look all that different than how she appeared back on her first day, with her black and white sweater and jeans. I knew she was different, a bit, inside, but outwardly, she was everything a well-brought up girl should be. A well-brought up girl in Shadowland, however...

"So we heard you know the way to get out of here?" Alfie asked her, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed in a suggestive position. "Maybe you might want to tell us?"

At first, she tapped her chin thoughtfully. Then she said, "No."

Alfie and I were just about to protest, to scream at her for giving us false leads, for exciting Fabian so much that Trudy actually thought that his new copy of The Solar System is Your Friend had arrived, brand new and signed and smelling like bookstore.

However, just like old times, Nina grinned and shook her head. "Wow, you guys are doofuses. Of course I know how to get out of here. And to answer your upcoming question, I only sent that girl a dream because I was so damn excited I didn't know how to tell the news to, so I just aimed for anyone in the school and I guess that's who it came up with."

She shrugged, but the excitement from the last year, the anticipation that ignited in her eyes whenever we discovered a new clue returned. It was making me nostalgic for the times before the dreams, the times when we had to fight a maniac obsessed with living forever threatening to kill us with poisonous sand flies.

"So...you do know how to get out of here?"

She nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I finished House of Hades on October 12th. Life is meaningless. **

**And yes, I did include KT because KT is awesome and your argument is invalid. I also mentioned Willow, too, if you caught that. KT will be in one another chapter, the next one, and won't appear ever again, just in case you were wondering. The only other time she would make an entrance would be if I had a sequel, but I've officially cancelled that, so no more KT after the next chapter! (3/4 of you DESPISED KT's appearance in Lost and Found, so just know that in DBA, _Kabian will not be a thing_. We've seen Fabina for 42 chapters now, guys, it's not just going to switch over now.)**

**We have about 19 more chapters to go, I believe. (I STILL KNOW WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO FIND NINA AND _YOU DON'T_) But I promise that even though this chapter sucked thoroughly, all the way through, know that the next chapters won't be as bad. Things are really going to pick up speed, so be sure to pay attention for the next few chapters! Oh, and by the way, I quite love my chapter naming skills. When you see the name of Chapter 51 you're gonna think I'm on drugs.**

**I know I'm the worst updater on the planet, so here are five words to base chapter 44 off of: **nostalgia, betrayal, notes, showers, memories.

**Chapter 44 is already in the works; and I SWEAR i am going to TRY to get it up on time. I swear on the River Styx. I hope you guys have a nice first day back at school after the weekend, and I'll (hopefully) see you next week!  
>~Lia<strong>


	44. And Stand By My Fellow Club Members

**A/N: I should get some kind of award. What is this, a chapter that's actually ****_ON_**** TIME?**** Well, it's here, and it's reality, buddy. I actually got a chapter up ****_ON TIME!_**

**I just realized that Victor has literally been in only one chapter, and it was chapter 2, and it was only a mention when Fabian was walking up the stairs. I still remember that when I was watching the series online in January 2011 (I started watching the series on January 29th, 2011, on House of Rendezvous) Victor was originally branded as the bad guy, and when we discovered that it was Rufus, I was _so_ mad because I wanted the bad guy to be Victor for some reason—and I also miss the times when Eddie didn't exist and Joy was only in six episodes and everyone shipped Patrome.**

**I keep forgetting I originally started this fic in the pre-season 2 days; it seems like such a long time ago, because now the series is really over and the fandom is dying out, and that makes me really upset. This fandom got me through such hard days and bad moods...I'm sad to see the fandom leaving. The HoA tag on tumblr is slowly never updating as well.**

**So I was remeniscing about the times before I published this story, when it was still in planning; Don't Be Afraid's original name was House of Dreams. How would you feel reading a story titled _House of Dreams_? Then I changed it to "Hurry Up and Save Me" because of that fuckass song, and then I finally saw a Percabeth drawing titled "Don't Be Afraid" and then that's where the title comes from. I physically can't think about 2011 without laughing at myself anymore.**

**I've updated only 5 times since June, so consider this a gift. A gift of reading this horrid story only one week after the previous chapter. Also, ladies and gentleman, we have reached 200,000 words! That is OVER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS IN 14 CHAPTERS. THIS IS RIDICULOUS.**

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>  
><strong>Thursday, November 24th, 2011 - 6:21 AM<strong>

The two best pranksters in the school had postponed their annual Prank of the Year once Nina had disappeared. At the time, there were no clues as to where she was. Sibuna couldn't have known what Shadowland was or where it was placed. They just thought that their fellow housemate had either been killed, kidnapped, or just erased from existence.

That's why it was a big surprise when, on the morning of November 24th, 2011, more than a month after the Prank of the Year was originally scheduled, the entire population of Anubis House jumped and covered their heads when Jerome and Alfie walked into the kitchen.

"Relax, Patricia!" Jerome exclaimed, holding up his hands in retaliation; his first reaction was to somehow jump in front of Alfie, maybe to protect him, maybe just out of habit. "Put. The. Pitcher. Down."

Sneering, Patricia dropped the pitcher of orange juice on the table, drops of the liquid spilling out over the top and onto the wood. Ignoring their snickers, she sat down in her seat next to Joy and striked up a new conversation with her.

"Well, Patricia got feisty!" Alfie exclaimed, gratefully taking his bowl of oatmeal from the counter, thanking Trudy, and sitting down. He stuffed a spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth before saying, "Just like Ms. Robinson. Did anyone know where she went?"

"No," answered the House monotonously. Jerome snickered to himself before placing his bum in the empty chair on the other side of Patricia, leaving Eddie all alone in the kitchen with a half-full bowl of oatmeal and a half-completed Hoagie Pancake Supreme.

"Well, I'm not surprised why either of them were feisty," Alfie commented uselessly. "Patricia has telekinesis, and knew that Jerome and I were the ones to get the dream last night."

Instead of embarrassing herself, Patricia's reaction was a disbelieving smile and an eye roll.

Granted, I couldn't quite understand what she was feeling; I had gotten ten dreams since Nina disappeared on October 17th, and Patricia had received all but none. After everything that had happened last year, I'd feel bitter too if my friend was keeping me out of the loop.

"What did Nina say?" I voiced, staring down at my muffin, all alone without my girlfriend to steal it from me.

"Not much," Jerome shrugged, stuffing the metal spoon into his mouth. "She talked about Shadowland, and Paul, and all that blah..."

"Seems like the dreams are becoming a bit useless," Patricia muttered — mostly to herself, but loud enough for me to hear. "I should be grateful I'm not getting them. They seem like a waste of fear, am I right, Mara?" she asked the girl sitting across from her, who only chuckled under her breath, covering her soft laughter with a spoon of oatmeal in her mouth.

"Oh, I wouldn't call them useless." Alfie was annoying me by how ominous he was being. Last year, he was an open book; I could tell when he was scared, when he wasn't, and when he was _trying_ not to be scared. Now, I could barely tell what he was feeling. "I mean, she did tell us she knew how to get out, right, Jerome?"

His partner in crime nodded along with him, while the table exploded with questions. Patricia, however, stayed flat in her chair, glowering at Alfie.

"So, what's the reason?" Amber asked, her eyes huge. She hadn't even touched her oatmeal yet. "What did Nina say?"

Alfie was about to open his mouth and declare the secret to how to get out, how to end this all, when Trudy walked in from the laundry room with an empty basket. Sibuna, at least, _tried_ to be quiet when other people were around, especially in the school, but Trudy was usually busy at breakfast time.

"Oh, love," Trudy sympathized, dropping the basket on the ground and walking over to give Amber a half-hug. "I know it must be hard to lose one of your closest friends, especially your roommate. I still remember, earlier this month, when you had a nightmare about that sick man kidnapping her...I'm sorry, honey."

I kept forgetting that the adults still had no idea what happened to her. We, the nine people currently residing in Anubis House, were the only people who knew that Nina was still alive and she was trying to educate us on how to help her, how to get her out. The hope — the only thing stronger than fear — was enough to keep us going, and it was almost enough for me to tell Trudy everything that had happened since October 17th. Almost.

Alfie and Jerome, looking quite anxious, were waiting to tell all about the dream they'd had; they were going to tell me what Nina knew, what she told them personally to tell the rest of the people who lived here. I was sitting in my chair, just as anxious as them, when Trudy released Amber, the duo opened their mouths to speak, but the next person to interrupt was our one and only house guardian, Victor Rodenmaar Jr.

I had no idea what he had to do with the search at hand, but I knew he wasn't totally innocent. After everything that happened last year — after the lies, the deceit, the betrayal and the despair — how could he not have anything to do with keeping the Chosen One locked up?

"You know, I think I'm going to walk to school early," Jerome announced, bringing his half-eaten bowl of oatmeal over to the sink for Trudy to clean up while everyone else walked to school. Alfie, however cold his breakfast might have been, dropped his bowl into the smartest place anyone could think of, the place that totally kept your food warm: the freaking_ refrigerator_.

Sometimes I wondered how I ever agreed with Patricia to tell him about Sibuna in the first place.

Lately, Mara and Joy had been forming their own little cult; they seemed to want nothing to do with the search at hand, for some reason. I figured they were trying to drag Patricia down with them, but just like always, the stubborn woman wouldn't budge. Mara and Joy walked along ahead of us, so Jerome, Alfie, Amber, Patricia, myself and Mick (looking like he wanted to join Mara in her girl talk with Joy) walked alongside the legendary pranksters.

"So what's the key?" I asked them, shouldering my backpack as Anubis House slowly decreased in size as the school grew larger in my field of view. "I mean, is it something reachable right now? Could we possibly just go and get it right now, and finish it right here and now?"

"Fabian, no matter the circumstances, we're getting her back on Winter Break," Alfie announced, once again raining on my parade. "It's in about a month. I have no idea what's going to happen within that time, as it's a little longer than a month from today, but one thing I know is that it definitely isn't today."

I felt like moping. I'd had enough of all these dreams, and I'm sure Patricia, Amber, and everyone else did too. I wanted it over with, I wanted Nina back in Anubis House, where we could finally go on that date we'd been planning since September, that amazing date at the expensive restaurant I'd told her about, and everything could go back to normal.

"Well, then, what did she say?" I stammered, my eyes scanning over Jerome and Alfie's body, trying to decipher anything they might have been doing; like crossing their fingers, or holding their arms behind their back. "Is there anything that can help us?"

"Oh, I think so," Jerome sang, sharing a knowledgeable look with his roommate; they knew so much more than I did, and it angered me so. "I think it can help us very well, what we're going to tell you."

I exhaled, knowing that the two of them were just bringing their stubborn personas back to play. Alfie, after sharing another glance with Jerome, turned to the four of us and announced, "She told us that she thinks the key is the elixir."

"The elixir?" I stuttered quickly, not in control of what my mouth was saying. I couldn't believe it myself; was the key to getting Nina out, the original curse-breaker, the elixir of life? The thing Sibuna spent all year last term trying to get rid of, to destroy, to prevent two maniacs from living forever getting a hold of it, the thing that could free of us of our search at hand? "The elixir of life?"

"Yep," Jerome muttered gravelly. I could understand his motives for acting like this; he got himself tangled in dangerous antics last year, just because he was jealous of the amount of time Alfie was spending with me, Patricia, Amber, and Nina. "The damn elixir of life. I don't understand why, and I don't know what we're going to do with it, because Nina ended the damn dream before Alfie or I could ask. Sometimes I wish that Alfie and I weren't connected in the dreams..."

"Well," was the first word out of our mouths, said by Amber, after the stunned silence that Jerome had left us in. "Patricia...you were the one to hide it when Nina gave Alfie the elixir by accident last year. Where did you put it?"

"The toilet in the girls' bathroom," she stated right away, like she was anticipating the question. "I put it in the cover...so unless the school got new toilets, it's still there. But is it the right elixir sample? We never knew for sure. We just gave Alfie a bottle of it, which he drank...but Fabian didn't bring the actual sample in the cellar with us when Rufus caught up with us, held Amber by the ear and threatened to release a deadly fly into her ear, and told Fabian to give him the elixir...which was fake. So...wait, was it even real at all?"

"I don't remember..." Amber muttered, but I could see it in her eyes that she hated the mention of how Rufus was holding her life on the line last year. It must have been traumatizing. "I barely remember last year...I remember a lot of things, like the first Sibuna meeting, but everything else...just happened so fast. It's like a blur in my head. Does it mean we have to go back to the creepy cellar?"

"It just might," I admitted, making Amber groan. Mick, on my other side, was confused as ever. I wanted to tell him to go ahead of us, to meet up with Mara and Joy; he wouldn't understand. This was happening under his nose the entire time, and he had no idea.

"Wait—" Alfie interrupted us, as we walked into the school. "If I drank the real elixir, does that mean I get to live until I'm like, a hundred and twenty?"

Amber giggled and leaned into him. It made me happy to see that Amber, one of the most stubborn women in the entire school, had finally warmed up to Alfie Lewis, the prankster, the screw-up, the person who got bad grades and couldn't do anything right.

I held the door open for the five other people coming in behind me; Mick thanked me before running along to his locker to collect his books for French class. Jerome and Alfie were talking as they walked into the the classroom earlier than normal, while Patricia and Amber hurried off to the bathroom to see if Patricia's elixir sample was still in the toilet.

I didn't know where to go, so I turned the corner and met up with KT by her locker.

"Hey," I greeted; she turned around and grinned at me, before turning around again, finishing the job by stuffing a textbook in her bag before slamming the blue locker shut. We began to walk to the French classroom together, but I couldn't be less enthusiastic about learning the new language.

"So, when are we meeting up for tea?" she asked me, chuckling; after living here for so long, I knew why she was laughing: every time an American traveled to the country of England, they didn't know that 'tea' meant dinner; it was basically the same noun as supper. I knew she was thinking of the actual tea, the one with scones and lemons and everything good.

"Probably tonight," I confirmed. "Trudy probably wouldn't mind." KT asked me who Trudy was, and I told her it was our house mother; she told me, in response, how her house mother was named Vera and she was the 'meanest, cruelest, the worst possible house mother ever, person. I asked her why, and she told me that Vera was constantly asking about "The Book of Isis", whatever that was.

I could've even looked into that, to distract me from the reality at hand; the reality that I hadn't gotten a dream since the nineteenth, and it wasn't even really a dream. _Paul_ had sent me that dream, and I was _that_ close from letting Nina believe I was the villain. But I didn't, however, as it wasn't related to the dreams in the least.

"I can't wait," she grinned, tilting her head to the side. "Maybe you can even tell me why you lied to me about that dream I had the other day."

"What?" I asked softly, my voice no louder than a whisper. I meant to go over to her, ask her what she meant about that, as I thought Sibuna had thoroughly convinced her that the dream meant nothing; but before I could do that, a sharp pain was sent through my back.

"OW!" I complained, turning around and seeing the unlikely duo of Patricia and Amber standing right behind my back. Amber was the one who slapped me, I collected, as she was wearing a glare on her face and Patricia didn't seem the least bit excited. "What the hell was that for?!"

"How could you do that?" Amber exclaimed, no doubt attracting attention. "After everything you and Nina have been through?"

"So?" I asked her incredulously, rubbing my arm where she had hit me. It was incredible, actually, what such a girl could do to me. I had no doubt in my mind that Mara could tackle and pin me down in less than ten seconds. "What does that have to do with anything? I'm being friendly with KT, that's all. God."

"Oh, please, Fabian," Patricia sneered, rolling her eyes as she sat down at the table to the left of the one I was sitting in. Amber, obviously still fuming, sat down next to me. The table behind me sat KT and her housemate, the one with red hair, the one who I couldn't name. "You know that's not all you're thinking about."

Mrs. Andrews walked in, about to start the lesson, but Patricia wasn't finished with me yet. She had to whisper now, as the class grew quieter and to make sure that the girl behind me didn't hear her. "You're angry that Nina broke up with you without an explanation, and that the only dream you've had since then was sent by her kidnapper, and not the girl we're trying to find," she reasoned, but my only response was another eye roll.

"What do you know about the dreams, Patricia?" I retorted. "You've never had one."

"I know enough about them to talk about them," she sneered, but my goal was accomplished; to make her feel like she had no part in the search, like she was the odd one out. Early on last year, before Nina came and Joy disappeared, my only real friends were Patricia and Joy, and even they didn't talk to me that much. The two best friends usually spent more time around each other than they did around me.

"It's just not right, Fabian," Amber commented, looking quite unhappy. "I mean..." I payed close attention to her, waiting for whatever she was going to say, but she seemed stuck on her words. I watched as Mrs. Andrews prepared the lesson, counting down the seconds until Amber would have to shut up completely.

"I mean, I don't know what I would feel if I was the one who was kidnapped off the side of the road, and forced to send dreams to you guys. If I was Nina, I'd probably be sending the dreams every damn day," she admitted, laughing to herself a bit. "But...if I saw Alfie acting quite comfortable with some other girl, I'd feel a bit betrayed. There I am, suffering in Shadowland, and there he is, laughing and being cute with someone else who isn't me, not even giving a thought to the dreams I'm giving him!"

I gave Amber a look that could be deciphered as _Are you serious?_

"We don't up on our friends, Fabian," Patricia decided, folding her arms against her chest. For once, I could actually understand her words and what she meant by them. "You wait, years maybe, but you don't ever give up.

I didn't want to send myself on another guilt trip, but luckily Daphne Andrews, distrusted since September 2010, started the lesson once again on the subject of romantic phrases. She handed out a worksheet for us to fill out, so while Amber was scribbling to no end with her pen, I tore out a loose piece of paper from my binder and quickly wrote a note: **There's nothing to tell. The dream really meant nothing. Don't be shocked when I don't say anything at tea tonight, because there's nothing to say.**

When the teacher wasn't looking, and when Amber was too caught up in her notes to notice anything, I slipped the note behind my back, making sure it landed right in front of KT's worksheet. I waited a few minutes, and soon enough, the note returned to me, reading: **_I want to believe you; really, I do. And I guess I should, since there's no other explanation. I heard you and your friends talking about an 'elixir', before...what was that about? Just curious._**

_Shit._

**Um...** was the beginning of my smart response. **Well, an elixir for sleep. We don't know why, but the people in Anubis House haven't been sleeping well lately, so our house guardian prepared a secret 'elixir' thing for us to drink to sleep better. Nothing big. Are you still up for tea, though? You could even stay for supper, if you want, but today might not be good.**

Just as I predicted, KT's response came quick and snarky as ever. _**Why not? God, Anubis House is so secretive and annoying. What's SO bad that you can't tell me what's going on? If we were dating, I'd have broken up with you long, long before this.**_

I felt bad; I liked KT as a person, I really did — she was proving to be a good friend already — but she knew nothing, compared to what Sibuna knew at the moment. All she knew was that Nina got excited over the fact that she knew how to get out, so she just aimed the dream for anyone in the school, and it ended up being KT.

She knew nothing, and I planned for it to stay that way. Ignorance was better than innocence.

I didn't respond back; the rest of Mrs. Andrews' lesson involved speaking, and I knew I couldn't talk in one language and write in another at the same time.

The school day continued as followed: Mrs. Andrews: French, Mr. Sweet: Science, Ms. Fitzgerald: Drama, Mr. Sweet: Maths, Mrs. Andrews: English, and Ms. Fitzgerald: History. It wasn't until History class, the last class of the day, that I started to grow suspicious.

For one thing, she didn't show up until the class was almost halfway over. During that time, I spend the majority of it reading a fiction novel while listening to Patricia and Amber converse; it was funny listening to those two, since they had never really been close friends during the four years they had been housemates, before Nina showed up.

Patricia wanted to talk about the lesson, but all Amber was concerned about was her lipgloss. Patricia tried to get her attention back on track to what we were learning, but to no avail; surprising even me, she left Amber alone and went to sit next to Eddie. I would've killed to hear what they were talking about; I had no doubt that it was just a snark fest.

"Class!" Fitzgerald exclaimed as she finally walked in, strutting, looking almost...drunk. "I'm back. Take out your...books...what are we learning about again?"

"Egypt," Eddie contributed, sitting on the other side of the room.

Ms. Fitzgerald locked eyes with him for only a moment; but it was like a spark, a firework, something that just ignited in them. I couldn't tell what it was; both the teacher and the student were unreadable.

Then she turned. Her gaze faced the person sitting next to Eddie: Patricia. Ms. Fitzgerald could be compared to a robot in that moment; the way she spoke, the way she moved, even her eyes looked a bit metallic. "You," she sneered, slowly, mechanically, moving her arm up to point at Patricia Williamson, who usually sat on the other side of the History classroom. It took the teacher a little bit longer, after she spoke her one word; and in that moment, Patricia almost looked scared for what was to come. "Get back to your seat."

Patricia did as she was told.

Kathleen Fitzgerald exhaled in the silent classroom, waving her hand to say that it was okay to talk. I folded the page of my novel and placed it under my seat, grabbing my books for the lesson at hand: the lesson we had been learning since before Halloween.

I brought the Dream Log out as well as my books; KT stirred behind me, letting me know she was there. I twirled the pen around in my hands, thinking while observing; I could write another entry. I could write about the way Ms. Fitzgerald was acting bothered me a bit, set me on unease. I could write how Eddie kept sparing glances at my side of the classroom instead of conversing with Patricia, I could write about how I didn't know what Amber and Patricia had found in the bathroom since they wouldn't tell me, I could write about KT coming over for supper one of these days; I could write so much, yet my head was so blocked. Not a thought was coming into my mind.

When Eddie, yet again, glanced at me from the opposite side of the room, I decided what to write.

_Hey. It's Fabian. I wish I could say this in person, but because of the curse...I can't.  
>I don't really know what to write...I don't even know WHY I'm writing this. But I felt the need to...I just wanted to say it, I guess. I haven't spoken to you since November 8th...I had this weird dream in the middle of the day on November 12th, and I learned nothing, so I don't count that, and on November 19th, it was the dream that Paul sent me. So really, I haven't spoken to you in sixteen days.<br>It feels like a long time, but really, it isn't. And...I just wanted to speak to you again, I guess, and not at night and in my subconscious. It's weird knowing that you're awake right now, and still having no idea what you're doing...you could be crying, or laughing, or screaming, or smiling, and I have no idea.  
>There's no real point to this letter...I'm sorry. I just felt bad, and kind of lonely, too. I don't know how you must feel, since I only see you at night and haven't really spoken to you since November 8th, and that was when you freaking broke up with me — but I know it must be lonely there, too. I promised you last year that I'd never give up on you, remember? "I will not give up on the quest, Sarah, and certainly not on you." If you were to fall through a pitfall through a Senet board brought to life or something, I still wouldn't give up on you. You can trust me, I promise.<br>Okay, so this was useless...but we know a lot. And we're going to get you out of there, Nina, I promise. We know where the entrance is, we know how to get you out of there...just give us time. You once told me that time heals all wounds, and that's what's going to happen with you.  
>Wow, that made no sense. Okay, I'm going to stop writing this before 1) Ms. Fitzgerald catches me writing AGAIN, 2) Before my hand gets a cramp and 3) Before I embarrass myself worse than I already have.<em>

I signed my name, and the urge to crumple the paper up and toss it in the trash was overwhelming. However, I reminded myself that this was a note to Nina; I waited until Ms. Fitzgerald released the class for the day, and caught up with Eddie in front of the hallway. I handed him the folded paper without a word, scratching the back of my head as he unfolded it and read it, word for word.

"Okay," was his response, and he walked away.

I supposed that meant he was going to give it to Nina when we went to Shadowland tonight, but he didn't say anything else, so I couldn't be sure. I beat myself up for writing something so cheesy, so corny, something that felt like it came out of a romantic comedy; I leaned my head against the lockers in defeat, waiting for Amber or someone else to come cheer me up and drag me home.

"Hey!" Someone greeted; I turned my head around to find KT, her hair wild still, her bag slung over her shoulder. "Are you okay? You look a bit depressed."

"Yeah, I am a bit depressed..." I muttered, slouching as I finished the job by placing the final textbook back into my locker, marking the hallways empty. "It's nothing. I'm just moping, really, for no reason, just...thinking..."

"Okay," she shrugged, a smile still on her face. "So, when is supper at Anubis House, usually? I'd love to come by, but only because I don't really want to deal with my roommate, Willow." KT sighed, leaning against the locker. Without a word, she pointed the the doors, and I thought she was suggesting we leave, which I did, rather gratefully.

I told her all about Anubis House on the way there; about each and every resident, and how they different, who they were similar too. I told her about my old roommate, James, when I was 10; but he left the year after that and when I was 11, Mick came; I told her about how Mara replaced this girl named Lily, and how Nina ironically replaced Joy, but Joy was the only one who returned.

When I walked into the House, I was greeted with the original Sibuna in the common room, waiting for me. They all looked very unhappy, but KT didn't seem to catch a hint and leaned in closer to me. Only then did I realize what Sibuna's disbelieving looks meant, and if I said something, I could have avoided Amber's very unhappy slap-fest.

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><p><em><strong>o~~~o/**_

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><p><strong>Eddie<br>Thursday, November 24th, 2011**

My sister, Victoria, was born in 1999 meanwhile I was born in 1995; when she was eight, in 2007, a Barbie movie titled "Barbie as the Island Princess" was released, and Victoria fell in love with it. A song from the score, titled, "I Need to Know" was her favorite song and she must have listened to it eighteen times a day.

And after listening to it eighteen times a day for the next five years, that was somewhere around thirty thousand times; thirty thousand times listening to the lyrics and memorizing them because Victor just couldn't go a day without listening to the song.

And on my way to Shadowland, absent-mindlessly, I started to hum I Need to Know; as I approached the warehouse once the path thinned out, the lyrics were becoming clearer and the humming was less; by the time I arrived at the front door and unhooked the lock, the lyrics "I need to know these answers" and "seize my tomorrow, learn my yesterday" were my clarity. I was sure that if Patricia was along with me right now, she'd just make fun of me for singing a Barbie song.

I knew that my life had been one big miss, but it got even messier when I stepped into Shadowland; after almost a month of doing so every single day, I'd gotten used to the gust of wind that was released every time you opened the door, so when it tousled my up-in-a-spike hair, I barely even noticed. I closed the door and stepped even further in.

I began my ascent; it didn't take long, but the note from Fabian in my pocket was weighing me down. I didn't know what I planned to do with it. As soon as I would walk the staircase, Paul would approach me, ask me what I had learned, and I'd be free to talk to Nina or do whatever I wanted. I would usually just relax on the couch in the house here, talking to Nina about our lives in America or our different opinions on the residents of Anubis House.

Just as planned, Paul stopped by as soon as my foot hit the pavement. He looked shockingly familiar to Fabian today — while he did look similar to my roommate in looks, he was me, at my worst. Because I was Nina's protector, it was Paul's destiny to destroy her. He was so desperate to rid the Earth of the Chosen One that he hired me, the damn protector of the girl, to spy on the people trying to save her.

"Anything new?" was his small talk, his ice-cold blue eyes glowing in the night; Fabian had more of a cement color, but you could easily pick out Paul's eyes if all you could see was that.

"Not really," I shrugged, holding back a yawn. I was about to tell him that Nina told Jerome and Alfie that she knew how to get out of here, but then ruled it as a huge no-no straight afterwards; Paul still thought that Nina refused to send the dreams anymore, yet he wasn't doing anything about it, surprisingly. What would he do if his kidnappee was going behind his back; what would he do if the person he'd gone to such troubles to isolate knew how to get out? "Um...Alfie...has this theory."

"What kind of theory?" he retaliated quickly; I knew I couldn't send him off trail, but I could try, at least.

"Um," was my wise, thoughtful response. I diverted my gaze from Paul, thinking of an answer on the spot. "Alfie thinks that Shadowland is located in the school. I don't know where he thinks it is, but he believes it's in the school."

Convincing enough; but unfortunately, Paul snorted. "Boy, I'm not _stupid_," he sneered, "I'm _you_, after all. I saw Alfred Lewis in the warehouse last night, and you're trying to tell me that he thinks the entrance is in a different place."

"Oh," I commented uselessly, looking down at the grass on the side of the pavement.

Paul sighed, catching my gaze. His ice-cold blue eyes were nothing like Fabian's; my roommate's color was more of a cement-blue, while Paul's was the type to haunt your nightmares. If he wasn't my worst in human form, he'd have hazel eyes; I had, at least, gotten that much from my dad. The hair was from my mother.

If Paul really was me at my worst, then he had all my memories, also. He knew that I cried for nights on end when my dad, the current headmaster of the school, left my mom; he knew about my home life in Los Angeles, how all of my friends were big assholes, how my mother never had enough time for me and my sister because she was supporting two children all on her own, so it was usually just me and lil sis at home on a normal day.

He knew how I opposed coming to England at first, and if I knew what it would lead to back in October, I _still_ wouldn't have gone. If I was told I would be drugged, dragged to Shadowland and forced to protect this relative of Amneris, I wouldn't have gone. Nina could survive on her own. If I had the choice to protect myself from being hated by my housemates, only to leave the kidnapped girl alone, I'd take it. I'd still be in my house in Los Angeles.

"Well, whatever, boy," Paul breathed, chewing his lip while looking beyond my back. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bring something new...this is getting out of hand."

He passed me, actually moving around me instead of telling me to move out of the way this time. I chewed my bottom lip, the same as he had been doing, before turning around and saying, "Wait, what do you mean by 'getting out of hand'?" My voice wasn't loud; I sounded like I was just talking to my friend who was sitting next to me on the bus.

It wasn't a surprise when Paul slammed the door shut, leaving me all alone in Shadowland once again.

I inhaled slowly, looking around the place where I had been coming every night for the past month; it looked stranger, somehow — brighter — like something good had recently happened, and the sun was happy along with it, like a coloring book brought to life.

I walked slowly to the unnamed house, unlike Anubis, in front of me. I was careful not to slam the door like Paul had done only moments before, so my voice sounded louder than it usually did when I called out, "Nina? Where are you?"

As an answer to that, she walked out of the room that substituted as her bedroom on normal nights. "Hey," she greeted, grinning, jogging over to quickly hug me. She pulled away just as quickly, and examined my face. "What's up? You look famished."

"Nothing," I answered, rolling my eyes as I plopped down on the couch. "And I look famished because I probably am. I haven't been eating Trudy's cooking."

"Why not?" Nina exclaimed, as if I had just announced that Muriel's Wedding deserved an Oscar, or that Leonardo DiCaprio didn't. "I love Trudy's cooking. Especially her biscuits, uugh...I'd kill for one of those right now."

"Yes, because you're strange," I stated ominously, making Nina roll her eyes. "I've been stuffing the breakfast and dinner into an extra pocket in my backpack for the past, like, two weeks. It's starting to smell like Italy every time I put on my backpack." I shrugged, but Nina's eyebrows were still raised in confusion. "In case you didn't know, Nina, I'm _American_."

Her jaw dropped sarcastically. "No way," she told me, making me laugh at my own joke. "I couldn't tell. Can you believe that _I'm_ American too?!"

I slapped her arm in mock surprise. "No way!" I repeated her; Nina was trying so hard not to laugh, but I was already giving in. "I had no idea. But if you're from Brooklyn, you're not a real American," I added; this time, Nina shook her head in disbelief. It was strange to think that we were born on two opposite side of the United States; her in New York, and me in California.

"Oh, please," she retorted, reclining against the couch, finally getting comfortable for once. "You're just a product of Hollywood if you were born in California."

"Yeah, well tell that to your boyfriend, because he dreams of making it there," I joked, but realized my mistake at once when she slumped back, once full of energy; she looked like a balloon that had just been poked with a very sharp toothpick, letting all the air out one second after another.

"Um," seemed to be my response to every single time I got stuck in a sticky situation. I retaliated quickly this time, making sure to distract my friend from anything except her ex-boyfriend. "Jerome and Alfie said that you know how to get out of here?"

A little bit of the air had just been sucked back inside of the balloon, but a lot of the air had escaped and was now floating around the room, making me feel guiltier than before. "Yeah!" she exclaimed, the energy growing once again.

"Do you want to tell me how?" I asked her, after seconds of silence when she paused. "That would be helpful."

Nina grinned before continuing. "Okay, so you know how I've been trying to convince Paul that I've given up on the dreams?" I nodded. "Well, he definitely thinks I've stopped now. He was all depressed when he was in here before because now he can't do anything with me; I'm not giving him any ammunition. I'm just kind of here, rotting along with the plants on that windowsill," she joked, pointing to the windowsill, where a rotting ivy plant was wilting.

"Well, today, he said he was getting bored of having to come back every day. I said he didn't have to, that I could manage living here by myself, just me and the wilting ivy plant, and we had this whole conversation about why he wouldn't do that but — anyway — last night, he was talking about an elixir."

Just like a movie, I had this strange vision of Fabian, one night, talking to me about Sibuna; about everything that had happened last year, how Joy had disappeared and Nina took her place the same exact day, about how Patricia made Nina have an initiation ceremony up in the attic that led to a whole search for the Cup of Ankh, and ended on the night of the prom, when they escaped from the clutches of Rufus Zeno and built the cup, forbidding Victor or Rufus from having eternal life and killing one of the Anubis residents.

"The elixir of life?" I guessed, and Nina shook her head feverishly. I told her she didn't need to explain, so she took off from there.

"Well, I think it's a key, or at least one of them," she told me, her grin slowly growing wider and wider. It made me glad to see she still had hope, that after all this time in Shadowland, she hadn't given up on ever coming home. "Paul was talking about that day. But—

"I hate that word," I sneered.

"But the thing is, when Sibuna fought Rufus in the cellar last year, Fabian brought the fake elixir to give to Rufus. He told him that it was real...and then...well, I don't know where the real elixir is. The last time I heard of it, Patricia was going to hide it because we hospitalized Alfie."

Seeing my stunned silence, Nina chuckled again and patted my shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry, Eddie. We're not murderers. We didn't actually mean to hospitalize Alfie and almost kill him...well, then again, _I_ gave him the fake elixir..." My eyes grew to the size of Bugsy's, once again making Nina laugh even harder.

"I'd hate to be in Sibuna last year..." I stated simply. Nina took in one last breath of air after laughing and faced me, telling me that it was fun last year, getting to know everyone and their limits, seeing what they could do after what they came off as. Nina told me how her first impression of Amber was that of a girl who liked makeup and disliked getting dirty and any effort in her activities, then when they created Sibuna, she found out how brave she was when worse came to worse; she also told me how she thought that Alfie was the bravest in Sibuna, if she had to choose just one person.

"I liked it, at least," she finalized, shrugging her shoulders. "I thought it was fun, having four people to fall back on, since everyone branded me as a murderer in the first week of the school year. And even without me, I know we finish this. Just...get me out of here, and never think of it again."

"Why are you desperate to not talk about it?" I wondered, moving around so I was more comfortable in my position. "I mean...I'm sure we all want to know what happened while I wasn't here when you return. Are you just...not going to talk about it?"

"No, I mean, I'm not going to talk about it because I don't want to be branded as selfish," she admitted, and in response, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I silently told her to continue, to which she obeyed my orders. "When I get back — if I get back — I'm not going to talk about my time here because I don't want everyone to think I'm selfish. I mean...how would you feel, if someone you've only known for a year just suddenly disappears without an explanation, and then comes back without a scratch or a bruise, willing to talk about the whole thing like it was just a vacation to Greenland?"

Laughing at her comparison, I said, "Well...I wouldn't know what they've been through. I wouldn't know what goes through their mind every night before they send a dream to someone in Anubis House, only to wake up to nothing and have to repeat the same thing night by night. I...Nina, I live with the same people you did last year right now, and I keep eavesdropping on their conversations, even after they've told me I can join in discussion with them. And I know that they'd never give up on a fellow Sibuna...especially not Fabian."

"Yeah..." she muttered solemnly, twisting a strand of hair around her fingers. "He told me, last year...Fabian told me he'd never give up on me."

"He did?"

"Well, yeah, but he also brought in the search and Sarah along with my name," she laughed, moving her head along with her words. "But he said 'certainly' with me! That has to count for something, right?"

"Certainly!" I joked, and Nina slapped me on the arm; I wasn't sure it was 100% playful, though. "Look, they'd never give up on you. Not after everything you've put them through, especially Patricia. I mean, she basically wants to murder you because you're not sending her any dreams," I laughed. Nina blushed in embarrasment, so I asked her. "Why don't you send her any dreams, anyway?"

"Don't ask!" she exclaimed, and I held my hands up in surrender. I was thinking of what Nina had told me; how Patricia had hid the elixir when she had almost killed Alfie, and now she had no idea where it was. It seemed that I'd have to contact Patricia _yet_ again...god damn, she was a major reason why I'd choose to stay home if I had a choice to come or not to come.

I realized that the note from Fabian, the note he had given me to give to Nina, the person he'd known longer than I had, the person he'd loved and admired until she kissed him last year and they finally went out — was still sitting in my pocket. I could've given it to her; I could have made her day, given her a direct source from her best friend.

I left the note in my pocket.

"Hey, sorry, sorry. But I'm telling you, right now, if you were on fire and Patricia had water, she'd drink it."

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><p><strong>AN: Does anyone even read this story anymore?!**

**Don't get me wrong, I love having all of you guys follow and favorite, but reviews are awesome, too. I love hearing your feedback. I know school is a bitch and homework is annoying, but could you do an old friend a favor and give her confirmation that the 100 people who follow this story don't just follow it because they want to make fun of every new chapter I post?!**

**So, yeah, I can do previews if you want. Or anything. I'd just love feedback — aaaaand now I'm sounding desperate, aren't I? Eh. Maybe I am. Just a bit. Yo, Paige, if you're reading this, I command you to review, bro.**

**Sorry for that ending, too. I can't end chapters anymore. Or start them. Or just write in general. I basically have lost the ability to write. **

****Now we have 18 chapters left until the end. It feels weird to know that it's ending; after all this time, it's sad to see it come to an end. And to know it was my first story...I'm getting really sentimental now .**I was talking to someone last night, and she reminded me that Don't Be Afraid is ending soon; if I continue with every week, it'll end on March 10th, 2014; I'll be 15 by then. It's strange to know I'm going to have to let go of it soon...I feel like I know an old friend is leaving soon...but I don't want to see it go.  
>~Lia<strong>


	45. Sibuna

**A/N: I know it's not a Monday, so don't think I'm just updating one day early or think it's just an Author's Note, because it's an actual chapter! I'd like to announce that I'm officially moving the update days to SUNDAY. I figured that'd be better, since it's the weekend and everyone is off from school...what do you think about this, do you think I should keep the Sundays or move back to Mondays?**

**I might have been crying over this story ending, and then, I did something unthinkable. I added six chapters. Would you guys rather have 68 chapters, marking Don't Be Afraid as the longest story both word-wise AND chapter-wise in the HoA archive (Drabble series' don't count, really), or would you rather I just stop at 62? Either way, this story will wrap up nicely, so choose wisely. I know I missed a week last week, but I . . . think(?) I'm back on track, so count for chapter 46 on November 25th!**

**OKAY SO I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO SOLVE THE CURSE. I had this bad, weak idea at first because I couldn't think of anything else, then I was reminiscing on s1 days and I GOT THE BEST IDEA EVER. IT WILL BE PAINFUL AND BEAUTIFUL AND YOU WILL LOVE IT BUT HATE ME.**

**There's actually a couple season 2 references in this chapter, which is kind of funny considering the fact that s2 is my least favorite season of the three that we had. Sometimes I just miss the days when Peddie wasn't canon or when we all knew Fabian and Nina canoodled in that cabinet after they closed the door on the day they were keeping Victor awake. Everything was so simpler in that bad season...I also started re-watching the series; as of right now, 10:17 AM EST on November 17th, 2013, I finished the premiere movie of season 1...as the weeks go by, I'll mark my progress and try to liveblog/tweet...? It doesn't matter. I just really missed this show; I was thinking about TOR and I started crying a bit and yah.**

**The real only perk of living in Long Island is that NYC is only 60 miles away. I went to Max Brenners, a chocolate themed restaurant and flubnuggets the milkshake was so good. I'm going back to the city on the 30th and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm getting a milkshake from there again.  
>~Lia<strong>

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><p><strong>Nina<br>Friday, November 25th, 2011 - 1:10 AM**

"Alfie and Jerome said that you think the elixir of life is the key to getting out of..." Mara gestured to our surroundings; the forest, the house, the staircase. "Here."

"I believe so, yes," I confirmed, looking behind her back at the door, the door that Paul and Eddie enter through every day. However, Paul woke me up this morning, mumbled something incoherent, all before stumbling out the door and locking it like always. I knew Eddie could enter even if the door was locked — I didn't know how; maybe he had a key or something — but it had been hours since he had been due here and he was yet to show up.

"Where do you think the elixir is?" Mara asked me carefully, playing with her fingers. She seemed awkward, somehow, hesitant, but it wasn't about hurting my feelings this time. "I mean...Fabian was talking about how Patricia hid the elixir in the toilets in the girls' bathroom...but she went in there in school yesterday, and I don't think she was carrying anything that looked like the key to immortal life."

"Well, don't expect it to come with a sign that says _I AM THE KEY TO LIVING FOREVER_," I joked lightly, knowing that I'd never be an Alfie Lewis or a Jerome Clarke. "I...I don't even remember if we pulled the right elixir from the cellar...it seems like such a long time ago."

"Are you saying that we have to go back to the cellar to look for the right elixir?" Mara complained bitterly, throwing her hands up in exasperation. I wanted to tell her that she could stay behind, that Amber hated going down to the cellar at first too, but she wasn't finished talking. "Because it's dark and dirty and gross and I really don't want to go down there."

I laughed lightly. "It's okay," I told her, grinning, "You can stay behind. I'm sure Fabian, Amber, Alfie, and Patricia would be fine going alone, seeming as we had done it hundreds of times before."

"Good," she breathed, honestly terrified. I didn't see what was so bad with the cellar; if you got over the creepy robes and liquids on the table, it was just a normal cellar, just like the attic was just a normal attic. "I couldn't imagine going down there. Will the others have to look for the real elixir of life?"

"If the one we stole last year was a fake, yes," I stated. I shrugged while saying, "I guess you'll have to test it somehow. I mean...we fed Alfie the elixir last year, when he was in shock from witnessing a Society meeting, so if that was the real elixir, then he'll be living until he's, like, a hundred and twenty."

"Great," Mara laughed along with me, "I'll have to deal with Alfie while I'm in a nursing home and he'll still look like he's sixteen."

I couldn't explain why I called Mara, of all people, for a dream; I could've called Fabian, but I ruled him out since I was still terrified of him. I could've called Amber, but I figured that would just lead to another fight. Patricia was ruled out entirely because if I gave her a dream now, a shitstorm would occur; I didn't feel like seeing Jerome and Alfie's faces at the moment, Mick wouldn't understand, and I barely knew Joy.

Mara was smarter, if not the smartest, than everyone in Anubis. If I didn't understand the subject we were now discussing, than I figured _Mara_ would. She was a science geek, she could question everything and assume nothing and still come out with a good test grade.

"What I don't understand," Mara pinpointed, "is why you think the elixir is the key in the first place. I'm not doubting your intuition or anything, but it doesn't seem right how you just...assumed."

"Well, I didn't just assume," I shrugged again, explaining, "I mean...like I said to Eddie last night, Paul was in here a day or two ago, right? And we were talking about how he didn't need to come in, and after our argument about why he wouldn't do that, he started to talk about the elixir of life. I remained silent because if I interrupted him, well...anyway, he said that he was trying to get rid of it. I don't know why, but then I thought about it...and here I am now, talking about it to you."

She nodded slowly, taking the information in. I was silent as I waited for her, knowing how hard it must be; Mara felt guilty when she had to leave Shadowland a few weeks ago, because she could get out and I couldn't. At the time, I thought I'd be stuck in here forever; now, I may have possibly found a way out.

I was skeptical about that idea, though. There were some days when I contemplated actually stopping the dreams once and for all, therefore giving the Anubis residents no new information; that way, they couldn't find me. Their lives would go back to normal. There would be no more panic when Victor dropped his pin, no more waking in the middle of the night and feeling like you'd never sleep again.

I knew their lives would be easier, better, without me. But I became so damn selfish and began to only care about getting myself out of here, and angered many people in the process. However much I wanted to stop sending the dreams, I couldn't now; how would I feel, if my friend had been sending me dreams for over a month and then just suddenly stopped with no explanation? I'd think she was dead.

The subject of going home to Anubis House, as well, was rather terrifying; what would they think? Would they call me selfish, like I had called myself? Would they yell at me for putting them through all of that?

I had decided to live in the present and see what came, to just take life as it came at me, to make each day count. I couldn't do much while I was trapped in an alternate dimension, of course. It was usually just me and the couch.

"How do you think it'll work?" Mara finally voiced, folding her arms against her chest. I chewed my bottom lip for a moment before answering her question.

"I think...well, I'm not positive," I defended, "but I think someone else has to drink it, someone who wants immortal life. I don't know what happens after that, though," I lied, knowing perfectly well what would happen when someone would drink the elixir.

I was just too cowardly to admit what would happen.

"Okay," Mara agreed with me, nodding. "So...now we just have to find the elixir that Patricia had, test it, and if it's fake, then we have to find a new one?" I nodded. "That sounds easy enough! What...what happens after we find the right elixir?"

I shrugged once more. "I have no idea. I guess...we just try to go back to normal." I wasn't sure myself with what I was implying; was I trying to say we forget about everything that happened once I got back, or that I wouldn't get back at all and the Anubis residents would have to forget me, forget everything that had happened so far, in the month and week I had been here. Either way, no one was talking about their time with the dreams.

"I guess I'll send you back now," I murmured, bouncing on my heels. I was about to send Mara back to Anubis before she waved her hands in the air, signaling for me to stop, which I did; I listened to her say, "No, don't go just yet! I have so many questions." And her questions mostly consisted of asking about the curse that was placed on me, how I was taken, etc, but I couldn't have been less involved with them.

I had just about as much knowledge of the search as everyone else did; if not, probably less. As soon as I learned something new, my first instinct was to send a dream. I was so excited about learning the key to getting out that I just aimed the dream for the school, not Anubis House in general, and Jerome told me it was sent to some girl named KT.

I told Mara how, because I was the Chosen One and Paul's destiny was to destroy me, the exact opposite of what Eddie's destiny was, he forced Jason Winkler to kidnap me off the side of the road, but Jason was the only person to oppose that. He wanted to help the Anubis residents stop the madness, but he didn't win against Eddie's bad side.

I watched as she yawned, evidently tired; I knew I should have sent her back now, since before I was just telling her I was the one that needed to go, but my mind wandered to something Eddie had told me the other day about this all ending on Winter Break. I called Mara's attention by saying her name, and then asking, "Mara...I...I know that you know when I'm going to get out of here, but _what_'s going to happen then?"

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Mara questioned, after a long silence. She was fiddling with her thumbs as she looked down at the concrete. I told her that yes, I'd die to know what would happen, but Mara continued on with, "I don't really feel like telling you."

"Is it that bad?" I asked carefully. Outwardly, I was everything a Chosen One should be: calm, collected, and focused. Inside, I was screaming. I was fearful for my own life, because if it was really that bad that Mara couldn't tell me, something wasn't right. The way I was getting out of here wasn't going to be pleasant.

I knew Mara wanted nothing to do with Sibuna as of late; Eddie had told me that much, the last time he'd visited. Alfie, too, always seemed on edge and in the last dream, he kept looking back, as if waiting for something bad to happen. Mara, then, nodded her displeasure and turned around, facing the ground again. I couldn't imagine what could be so bad, as I couldn't see the future. I was stuck here, waiting for something fatal to happen, and I was expected to do nothing about it.

"That's it, really, then" I reasoned, a bit disappointed, now pleading with Mara to let me send her back. I was exhausted, and I'd kill for just a small nap right now. "I really have to send you back now."

Mara didn't protest, only nodded, and that made me feel worse as I sent her back, watching her disappear. Soon enough, I was alone again, just me and my thoughts. I walked back inside the house and sat down on the house, watched the paint slowly peel off and the cobwebs sway in the late-evening wind. I just sat.

I tried to come off with the impression that I had no idea what would happen, but I did. I knew how I would get out — "getting out" is putting it lightly, though— and even if, somehow, I did get out, I knew what would happen after I did, and Mara did, too. And if Fabian or Eddie or anyone else knew, I wasn't sure what they would do. And I wasn't sure I would help them save me from death, either, because death was one thing I'd have to learn to come to terms with, seeming as death was the only way out of here.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>Fabian<br>Friday, November 25th, 2011 - 7:01 AM**

The day started as followed: wake up to the alarm, shake Mick out of bed. Get dressed, eat breakfast. Brust teeth, comb hair. Pack bag, walk out door. Nothing really differed on the morning of November 25th, except for the fact that Alfie probably hadn't changed his socks since September.

"But I don't want to go ahead!" Amber protested, stomping her foot down on the dirt as Sibuna walked to school side-by-side, like we had been doing since October. "I want to help!"

"Amber, you don't even know what we're doing," Alfie reasoned, grabbing her hand in reassurance. "It would be better if you just went to school without us. Trust me, it'll be better this way!"

"It sounds like you're going to sacrifice yourselves!" Joy complained, throwing her hands around uselessly. "And if there's one thing we're not allowing to happen, is for half of Anubis House to die in one night! If that happens, we'd kill ourselves!"

The boys of the House: Alfie, Jerome, Mick, Eddie, and myself, had asked the girls (Joy, Patricia, Amber, and Mara) to walk ahead to school without us; Mara and Joy wouldn't understand what we were about to do, Amber would just become sad because we were going to discuss the dreams and/or Nina, and because we were going to talk about that, Patricia would just complain that she didn't receive a dream yet, so we decided to leave this task up to the boys.

"We're not going to sacrifice ourselves, Joy," Jerome groaned, laughing a bit. "You're cute when you're worried. I guess in a certain light you are kind of adorable. I mean, if you would learn how to spell."

She slapped his arm harshly; as he caressed his wounded limb, Patricia scowled and announced, "It's not fair. Just because we're women, we have to stay behind?" I felt like she was going to start rambling about feminism, but misogyny was the last thing on my mind; I just figured that the boys would be easier to talk to, considering the circumstances. I didn't feel like watching Amber cry because she was in a fight with Nina the other week or listen to Patricia ramble on about how Nina was being annoying by not sending her a dream.

"Listen, guys, if you want to hear about the dream Nina sent me, then you'll have to let me stay!" Mara reasoned, however unconventional she was being, she had told Alfie what had happened in her dream last night, and Alfie told me.

I was still upset that Nina refused to send me a dream, but I had to get over that if I wanted to rescue her. If I had to join Patricia in the "no-dreams" club she had formed a few days back, then so be it. I'd rather watch Mara, Alfie, Jerome, Joy, Amber, and Mick converse about the dreams to themselves instead of not rescuing her at all, realizing that the past month and few days had been a waste of our time.

Alfie had told me that in Mara's dream, Nina was discussing the elixir of life with her. Nina told her about the search last year, how she still didn't know if the elixir sample we hid was the real one, but she obviously didn't remember that final night in the cellar, when Rufus was threatening Amber's life and Alfie faked his death (I swear to God if Rufus returned and saw Alfie still alive shit would go down), I told all of Sibuna that I threw away the real elixir, which was essentially a lie.

I hid it, but told them I threw it out, so Victor and his society wouldn't go looking for it again. I heard Victor muttering to himself the day after the prom about 'concocting' a new sample, but needing 'tears of gold' to complete it. I didn't hear the rest of his sentence, but 'tunnels under the house' was his clarity, whatever that meant. I just prayed that searching the attic wouldn't lead to me finding out that the place had been cleaned over the summer.

Patricia and Amber, however, had obviously either 1) hadn't found the elixir in the toilet when they looked yesterday or 2) didn't look at all, because when they came into class without a single piece of information about whether they had found the elixir or not had somehow slipped their minds, because all they did in class was scold me about spending time with KT, accusing me of liking her better than I liked Nina. And yeah, sure, KT was a good person and a good friend, but she couldn't replace the gaping hole in my chest, the emptiness and sadness that followed whenever I walked into breakfast in the morning and saw Nina's seat, unoccupied since the morning October 17th. I'd get my best friend back, no matter the circumstances, and KT would never be as important to me than the search st hand.

By the time we arrived at the school, Amber was clinging on to Alfie's arm as if she were walking into a death sentence, while the other girls were scowling at us. I told them that it was for the best, that the guys would be better at this project, but Amber still didn't believe me until Alfie dragged her away, into the first classroom, Mrs. Andrews' French class.

When he returned, Joy and Patricia had wandered off, muttering about how annoying boys were, and Mara had scampered off to collect her books for the school day. The boys were alone.

"What's the plan?" Jerome asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Him and Alfie seemed anxious to get working, while Mick couldn't have seemed less involved. We didn't particularly _need_ Mick in our task, but I figured he'd be a valuable asset if someone died, or someone was knocked unconscious by a demonic, possessed Eddie.

We had discussed our plan in the boys' bathroom earlier this morning; we'd leave the girls to go to school, and when they disappeared on us, we'd look for the elixir that Patricia had hidden in the girls' bathroom, then scurry into Mr. Sweet's science lab, test the elixir, look for results on Google or Wikipedia on the elixir of life in Egyptian mythology, then hurry off to the first class, or whatever class, depending on how many we'd missed.

Jerome, the leader of our plan, had taken control; he sent me off to the bathroom while Mick guarded the science lab as Jerome and Alfie snuck into the classroom. I opened the girls' bathroom door and ran into the first stall, praying to everything good and holy that no one had just seen me run into the girls' bathroom; but I ignored that as I took a deep breath and opened the top of the toilet.

The first thing I saw when I removed the lid was a purple hair extension and a small bottle filled with orange liquid; Patricia had been here before. I grinned as I stuffed the bottle into my school uniform's pocket, leaving Patricia's purple hair streak alone and desolated.

I unlocked the stall door, only to see the one and only KT Rush standing in front of it, holding her hands on her hips and looking confused, to say the least.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, looking around in false shock. I, at least, took in the compliment that Trudy had given me last year by telling me I did a good job on performing the role of Vincent in the school play. Hopefully, my acting wouldn't be_ completely_ bad here. "So this is the _girls_' toilets!"

KT raised her eyebrows in suspicion, but I continued to talk, "I could see that now..." while rushing, slinging my rucksack over my shoulder and running out, closing my eyes and _praying_ that KT didn't think I was some freak psycho rapist who lurked in the girls' bathroom before class started.

I jogged my way over to the science lab, knowing that Mr. Sweet didn't have a class this early in the morning. Mick greeted me without questioning why I was going in; he just slapped my shoulder in both a comforting, friendly way, and both a plead to say _GET ME OUT OF HERE_. I opened the door and saw Jerome, Eddie, and Alfie, both boys with open laptops at the white tables and beakers out in the open.

I was going to yell at them for leaving glass beakers at the edge of a table, but Jerome shoved a black laptop into my chest before I could complain. "Get to work," he commanded, "look for _anything_ that could lead you to more information. "Look for the recipe for the real elixir of life, look into Rene Zeldman/Rufus Zeno information, or anything that could lead us to getting the real elixir, if the one in your pocket isn't the real one."

"It's just a sample," I fumbled around in my pocket for a moment before holding it out in front of our eyes. "On the night of the prom, I said I threw out the real elixir, but I lied. I actually hid it in the attic a few nights before...it should still be in the horn of the phonograph now," I told them, looking from face to face. I settled on Eddie's for a while.

"So?" he questioned, leaning against his father's lab tables. "I mean...if you have the real elixir, and this is just based on my knowledge of Egyptian mythology, doesn't it have to be drank from a cup or something?'

"_THE CUP OF ANKH_!" Alfie and I both exclaimed at the same time, so loud that Jerome actually had to cover his ears. "Of course!" I pounded my fist on the table, so pleased that we had actually hit a milestone in our search. But, just as I landed on cloud nine, Jerome had to shoot me down by asking me if I knew where the Cup was hidden.

"Shit," I muttered, tapping my fingers on the wood. "I don't know!"

"How could you not know?" Alfie wondered, legitimately confused. His brow furrowed and his forehead wrinkled, and I felt like I needed to froth because I was so angry. "_Nina_ _never told me where she hid the Cup_!" I complained, throwing my hands up in exasperation. I grabbed my hair in my hands, feeling the need to pull it all out of my head.

Frustration was overcoming me. We had just hit a milestone, and now something so minor, something that could have been fixed months ago if only I pressed Nina into telling me, was coming back to bite me in the ass. "This is not happening," I murmured, looking up to see Jerome, Alfie, and Eddie frantically scrolling through the Internet. Eddie was the first to look up and ask, "But...how do you know the real elixir is up in the attic?" he questioned.

I shrugged and answered him that I didn't know, that no one in Sibuna had ever gotten it tested. After all, we couldn't just walk up to Mr. Sweet and ask, "_Hey, would you test this for us and tell us if it's the key to living forever_?"

"Okay, listen to this," Alfie spoke up, raising his voice and turning his computer screen around. "I searched up the recipe to make the elixir of life, and it turns out, the final ingredient is tears of gold, which...you can only get from the Mask of Anubis, which ironically disappeared when Victor Rodenmaar Sr, our own House Guardian's father, went missing. Which is strange, because, I thought he actually _died_...?"

I let out a breath of air, irritated at all these plot holes. True, the elixir of life I had hidden up in the attic might up the real one, but if it wasn't, we had no chance of creating a new one, since the Mask of Anubis, a thing I had never heard of before, just suddenly disappeared with Victor's father in the early 20th century.

There were so many plot holes that would never be filled here; Mara and Alfie told us days ago that we'd finish this whole search in Winter Break, which would start a month later from yesterday. How would we accomplish all this in a month? I had never heard of the Mask of Anubis before, and if it took Sibuna ten months to simply come to the conclusion that Victor's society had kidnapped Joy because she was the Chosen One, we couldn't find the Mask of Anubis in thirty measly days. It was impossible.

"So what do we do next?" I voiced. I knew I was supposed to be the leader here, but I was the farthest thing from one. I was more of a wing man. "We don't know where Nina hid the Cup, we can't get the Mask of Anubis which would ultimately give us the final ingredient for the elixir of life if the sample I hid in the attic isn't the real one, and we don't know the elixir will help us in the first place!" I groaned, leaning back in exasperation. Eddie helped my frustration a bit by saying he'd ask Nina all this the next time he went in, but I still wished I could go in and ask her myself.

I repeated my first question of what our next step was, to which the other three boys in the room shrugged their shoulders. I was the 'geek' of the group; I was expected to know everything, and while I did have five million facts stored inside my head, I was expected to be a leader, which I really wasn't. And now with all these plot holes and with no idea where to go next, Sibuna was at a dead end.

"Should we go and get the elixir from the attic?" Jerome suggested, pointing to himself and Alfie. Eddie slinked backwards and eventually slipped out the door, disappearing out of sight. I shook my head at their suggestion, their willingness to sacrifice a good grade for the report card after a long streak of bad ones, but it wasn't the time. I needed to clear my thoughts.

We were late to French class, and Mrs. Andrews scolded us by yelling _Vous êtes en retard et c'est inacceptable, asseyez-vous et prenez des notes en ce moment!_ In response, we took our seats and started taking notes, just as she had yelled, but learning to become bilingual was the farthest thing from my mind.

French class ended, but Maths class with Mr. Sweet followed. It wasn't in the same classroom as the lab, thankfully, but learning to divide and multiply strange and sometimes even numbers that didn't exist wasn't exactly fun when your mind kept venturing to the possibility of failing, of seeing Nina dead, of realizing that the last month had been wasted. I didn't know, however, that I'd be doing one of those things in the future.

I had decided to sit next to Eddie in our second class, seeming as we were roommates. Despite the consequences, I actually wanted to be friends with him. However, Patricia ruined my bonding time with my roommate by sitting across from us and ignoring my pleads for her to go away while the class worked on a group thing.

"Shush," she quieted me, holding up a hand for me to stop talking. Then she turned to the person sitting next to me. "You told me yesterday that you could do much worse than calling your own father a douchebag. How bad can you be?"

Eddie snorted, not louder than the other chit-chatting teenagers that sat around us. I tried to slink away from the two feuding lovers, but I stayed put, my curiosity about where their relationship was going once again getting the better of me. It made me stay seated. "Oh, I can do much worse than that," he taunted her, smirking, folding up his pink paper in a rectangle before stuffing it absent-mindledly in his rucksack, probably overfilled with textbooks and notebooks that were tracking our progress. My distrust in the boy was the only thing holding me back from making an alliance with him.

"Really?" Patricia taunted, mirroring the smirk back at him. It was strange, knowing I was witnessing a budding romance. "Well, then, prove it. Prove that you can do worse."

Snickering, Eddie pulled a loose piece of paper out from his bag and placed the pen on the paper. "So, Patricia Williamson, what do you consider 'bad'? Putting a cockroach in Amber's supper? Actually out-pranking Jerome and Alfie? Tell me, please, so I can prove how _bad_ I actually am."

Patricia scraped the floor as she pushed her chair out from under the table. Eddie and I watched her as she smirked at us, before walking back to her desk and sitting down in her regular chair, next to Joy. Eddie and I saw her hide her mouth from Joy by using her hand as a wall, probably to tell her everything about what had just happened.

"Is Patricia a good prankster?" Eddie asked me, his voice shaking the slightest bit. I nodded joyfully, telling him that she's known Jerome and Alfie for almost seven years, and they've taught her everything they know. I know it was cruel, but I laughed at how scared Eddie was of what Patricia had planned for him.

Three classes passed and Patricia finally sat down in Mr. Sweet's science class,the white lab tables separating us. "What's up, dorks?" she greeted us; in response, I rolled my eyes and groaned, but Eddie's only response was a snicker and a smirk. He must've been nervous, but he never faltered. She assumed he was one of them...a young captain of industry perhaps...

"Ready to be proven wrong, Miller?" she taunted, ignoring the unbelieving smirk that he was wearing. "Let's see what you can do against your own father." After he words, Patricia removed herself from the lab table and sauntered up to the front of the room while Sweetie had his back to her, writing something on the board. While I wanted to focus on the lesson at hand and Isis House, once again in the same class as us, was engulfed with the work, Anubis House seemed to notice their fellow housemate walking up, ready to prank their teacher, and all eyes in Anubis turned to her.

We watched her as she strut to the front of the classroom and carefully picked up some seaweed from the aquarium, opening Mr. Sweet's cookie, and placed the seaweed where the creme should have been. To my left, Eddie's mouth was in an '_o_' shape as Patricia continued to walk, right up the Cornelius, the organ model. She plucked up his eyeball and, somehow quietly, dropped it into our teacher's tea.

She sat back down, her best friend wearing an expression of complete and utter exasperation. She waggled his eyebrows at him, therefore angering Eddie; so, in response, to show her how 'bad' he was, he pushed himself off of the lab tables and jogged up to the front of the classroom, Mr. Sweet obviously infatuated with the notes he was writing.

Anubis House, the most curious they had ever been, watched with awe as Eddie Miller rifled through his father's cabinets and drawers on the other side of his desk; I presumed, since they were father and son, he knew where his dad kept everything. My prediction proved to be right as Eddie lifted a small brown-colored tube from inside the drawer.

With Sweetie's back still turned, Eddie screwed the cap off the tube and poured small drops into the tea cup one by one. Seconds passed, and in any of them, Mr. Sweet could have turned around and stopped Eddie from giving me second-hand embarrassment. When he was finished with the tube, he tossed it in the garbage and walked back to the lab table where Amber and I were sitting, both of us wearing an '_oh my god why would you do that_' expression.

And, certainly enough, the second-hand embarrassment came as promised. I felt it as soon as Mr. Sweet turned around, all the notes now presented on the white board; I tried to come off as busy, tried to make it look like I was engaged in my notes, but as soon as I heard "Yum yum", I just had to look up.

And there was Mr. Sweet, about ready to bite into the black cookie with the seaweed; it was inches away from his mouth before he noticed the algae, screamed, and let the cookie drop to the floor; the whole class exploded with laughter as our teacher brushed the shock off him, ignoring the laughs and guffaws of his students.

Eddie tapped my shoulder to get my attention, shaking with anticipation. Anubis House, now with all their focus on Sweetie, watched him as he lifted the cup of tea up to his lips; as soon as he saw the eyeball, he screamed once again, letting the tea cup smash against the tile. He reprimanded both Eddie and Patricia and told both to stay after school for detention, which Eddie agreed to with pride, but Patty looked a bit distressed for some reason. It wasn't as if she'd never had detention before; with Jerome and Alfie as friends, of course she'd be having detention.

Mr. Sweet couldn't understand why the class was continually laughing at him even after the pranks were over, but when he was sipping the tea, he had no idea that his own son had put brown food coloring in it; his teeth were a feces color now. It was kind of fun, I could admit, watching one of the smartest men in the school not understand why the class was laughing at him.

"That was good, Miller," Patricia grinned, catching up with Eddie and I after the bell rang. We were just about to leave to go to Mrs. Andrews' English class, but she stopped us before we could. "Couldn't say I could do better."

"Well, that's how you get kicked out of America," Eddie joked, about to turn around; However, Patricia stopped him, whipped him sideways, and kissed his cheek. I stood in stunned silence as I had been doing since Patricia started the prank war between him, and could only gape as I watched my roommate, the protector of my ex-girlfriend, my housemate, my best friend, whip Patricia around this time and place a big smackaroo on her lips.

I couldn't tell you how long they were kissing for, but I could tell you that Patricia _did not even try_ to pull away from Eddie's lips. There was a smack as their lips parted and without a word, Eddie rushed out of the classroom.

I caught up with him in English class, ignoring Amber's plea for me to sit next to her, since Nina usually sat next to her in English class, and, well, Nina wasn't here. Instead, I sat next to Eddie and laughed at him, watching him sit in stunned silence over what he just did.

"I kissed Patricia," he stated, matter-of-factly, once the forty minutes of class were over. English class with Mrs. Andrews had become more boring by the day, now that she had nothing to do with the search at hand and Alfie wasn't totally obsessed with aliens anymore and wasn't convinced that she was a lizard lady. Eddie's expression was laughable as we, once again, packed our bags for the final class of the day: Mrs. Fitzgerald's History class.

"And now you're a zombie," I gasped, laughing, as we walked into the empty classroom once again, like we had been doing every day since September.

You could definitely say the job of a Creepy Towers History teacher was jinxed; in the past three years, we've had Mrs. Fitzgerald, Mr. Winkler, and Mr. Flemmings; Mr. Flemmings died of a heart attack, and Mr. Winkler died at the hand of Eddie's worst. Mrs. Fitzgerald, though, hadn't shown her face since the bell rang, confusing all of us, so when Alfie and Jerome waved to Eddie and I from the doorway, we knew what needed to be done. Mick waved us on, not caring that he was required to be the watch-out anymore.

"Are you kidding me?!" Patricia's cry of disbelief couldn't be heard over the loud chit-chatter of the History classroom. Today, we were sharing the class with Horus House, and they proved to be extra chatty. "That isn't fair! You disappeared this morning without us, and now you're leaving us alone again! I think you're being sexist," she remarked, folding her arms across her chest, nodding to Mara in approval; but Mara, too afraid to speak up, slinked away.

I ignored the girls, as did the other three. We all stepped out of the door at the same time and — bad timing, perhaps — the teacher, a woman in her mid-twenties, pushed us back into the room. She shushed the class, putting all pressure and the spotlight on me; I had never been good being the center of attention. I felt like I wanted to puke into a bucket.

"Where were you going?" she spoke calmly and without stutter. "This class is very important, need I remind you again."

"We know," Alfie spoke. I figured either him or Jerome were the best liars out of the four of us, considering the circumstances. "We were, um, going to our lockers because we forgot a project we had to bring home. Or our textbooks. I have no idea."

"All four of you?" was her only question, to which Alfie and Jerome feverishly nodded their heads. She turned away from the four boys in the front of the classroom, tapping her foot against the colored tile, thinking the punishment through. I knew the penalty was coming, I just didn't want to hear it.

A girl from Horus House started to rise out of her chair; I didn't know why she was doing that, but Mrs. Fitzgerald saw and raised her finger at the poor girl. "Sit down," she commanded, her voice sneering, cold, and piercing through the silence of the classroom. "Do not get up while I am talking!" The girl, at her teacher's orders, sat right back down.

"Now, you boys..." she sneered at us, her glare so strong it could bend both metal _and_ Jerome's hair. "You know what I've told you about class being important. And it is, it really us. You wouldn't want to end up like poor Laura Lynch, would you? Dead, lying on the cold hard ground..."

"OH!"

"You four wouldn't look so nice in a casket," she grinned evilly, making me wonder how I ever weaved myself into a horror movie with evil teachers. I didn't know why she was seeming so evil today; even through the fact that she had something to do with Nina's disappearance, she seemed like a nice woman. What had gotten into her. "I could drag you to the warehouse," she suggested, meeting eyes with Eddie, standing right next to me. "I could kill you in that cold warehouse, with only a door and a chair for company...but that's illegal, so I can't do that."

I couldn't tell if it was a joke or not.

"Okay, lady," Jerome groaned, holding out his hand, probably thinking the same thing I was. "Just what are you going to give us? Detention? Whatever. We could handle detention."

"Well, it's Friday," she stated obviously, moving her gaze from Eddie to Jerome's, "and I'm not completely cruel, so I won't give it to you today. I have things I have to do today, also. So, Monday, you'll have detention, is that clear?" We all nodded our understanding and quickly went to take a seat. Eddie sat next to Patricia, surprisingly, so much to Amber's pleasure, I sat down next to her.

"So you have detention?" she questioned, making me nod, not quite satisfied with the punishment. I felt like we deserved something much worse, even though we didn't deserve it and I probably couldn't have handled it if I had gotten something worse than detention. But maybe the detention on Monday was a good thing; I could uncover why Mrs. Fitzgerald was acting so off, and maybe even collect more facts about the teachers' involvement in the search. "Proves you right," Amber laughed. "I told you not to be sexist."

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>"And those four completely deserved it," Patricia reasoned, chatting with both Joy, Amber, and Mara on our way to the warehouse on the evening of November 25th, 2011. It was almost midnight, so November 26th was just around the corner.<p>

"It's not fair that they got to go and test tubes without me," Mara complained, probably the only person who'd ever complain about something like that. Mick, back in September 2010, when Joy had first went missing and Nina had taken her place, had told me an amount of times how Mara was the "biology babe" and knew basically anything about the sciences. However, I refused to let any of the women take place in our project, simply because of their personalities and their jobs in the search and how they'd react about what we were doing.

"Oh, cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it," Jerome joked, laughing along with his partner in crime. We had weaved Mara into coming, Joy had trailed along with Patricia, but Mick had wanted to stay in and sleep after Victor gave his daily, infamous Pin Drop Speech. I didn't feel like arguing with him, so I left him to his sleeping schedule.

We were on our way to the warehouse. Eddie had told me how he was planning on not coming in for a few days, which I found absolutely ridiculous; now that we knew the key to getting Nina out of there, I figured we'd better try and get things going, see what we could do.

Eddie unlocked the warehouse door and let everyone go in in front of him. He looked so comfortable doing this after only twenty-five days on the job; for a second, I felt a twinge of sympathy for the man, but he caught up with us by the blue door, the entrance to Shadowland, behind which my best friend was residing all this time.

"So what do we do now?" I asked Eddie, before he slouched against the door.

"What do you _want_ to do?" he retorted in the most unsarcastic way possible, surprising me even further. "I mean...I don't know if I should bring you in, even if you're able to...which I don't think you will..." Eddie turned to Mara and started chatting with her about the time she was brought to Shadowland, and how Paul locked the entrance for everyone else except Eddie when he found out Mara escaped.

"How do you suppose we get in, then?" Alfie wondered, his thin form not hiding Mara very well, when she went to hide behind his back. "I mean, didn't you bring us here to rescue her?" After a glare from both Eddie and Mara herself, he realized his mistake, realized that he was the one to announce that we'd finish this once and for all on Winter Break, and that was just a little less than a month away. That fact was the only real thing keeping me going through this.

"Look, I'm going to go check," Eddie commanded us to stay still as he opened the door and disappeared into it; it made me a bit depressed to know that he was going to go in and talk to Nina, to chat with her and tell her all about how her housemates and friends were right behind the door but couldn't go through the door to see them.

I was thinking about what she would be doing by then; would she just be sitting, just thinking? Would she be doing something else, something_ unthinkable_? I couldn't even imagine what was going on in there, even after we'd been having the dreams for over a month now, even after all the information we'd collected.

Silence for a good ten minutes. We were all waiting for Eddie to pop back through the door, trembling with anticipation, when Mara spoke up with, "So, Alfie and I were thinking. And...I've come to the conclusion that we're going to tell you what happens when—"

Just then, Eddie's face made an appearance through the crack between the opened door and the wall. All heads in the room turned to him. "Um...well, I have big news for you," he announced, looking 101% stressed. Mara helped him step down from the door; he took a deep breath, moving his gaze away from the eight people in the warehouse.

"Just spit it out, Eddie," I stated, the ominous feeling in the air lingering, sticking around Eddie's body in front of us all.

He exhaled slowly, and brought his head up to face the gazes of the Sibunas in front of him. Ruining my life one step at a time, he breathed out, "I just checked everywhere in there. I looked in the House, the woods, behind the house, in the house again...just..._everywhere_...and I couldn't find Nina. She's not in Shadowland. I have no idea where she is."

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><p><strong>AN: *still can't believe I'm halfway through the forties***

**I spent three hours last night replaying the PSA Missions on Club Penguin. I'm a literal 8-year-old. But honestly, when I was in 4th grade, that damn polar bear scared the living shit out of me, but all in all, those games were a nice rush of nostalgia.**

**Urg. I have to go to school tomorrow. The title for the next chapter is, "Fifty Ways to Lie, Fifty Ways to Die", and the five-word preview is:** Trapped, Heart-to-Hearts, Shadowland, and _DAMN PEDDIE_. **You guys would totally, completely brighten up my day-before-Monday if you review :)**


	46. Fifty Ways to Lie, Fifty Ways to Die

**A/N: Last time I rewatched the series, I made it to the second-to-last week of season 2 before I quit, and that was only because I absolutely despise season 2; now, though, I'm charging through the series, but I'll need extra support by the time I get to season 2, because ugh. Now, though, at 10:15 AM EST November 23rd, I'm on House of Kidnap & House of Catnap (Hey, I've watched s1 about 6 times by now.)**

**EDIT 12/3/13: I FINISHED SEASON 1 AND I WANT TO CRY. The ending of that season is literally the best ending, ever. Now I have to move on to stupid season 2 and ugh I really don't want to.**

**So yeah, it's official, we're getting 68 chapters. The end of the 'dreams' per say, is chapter 59, so we have 13 more chapters to go before the 'epilogue', that's really 9 chapters, gets put up. My writing, however, is just getting weaker by the second, I am so sorry. This chapter is, like, so boring, but the next chapter is probably just as boring. Maybe not. I don't even know anymore. There are times when I want to trash this story and just be done with it completely, but then something holds me back.**

**So I play this video game series titled Harvest Moon and _OH GOOD GOD I'VE FALLEN HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH NEIL.  
><em>~Lia**

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><p><strong>Fabian<br>Saturday, November 26th, 2011 - Dream**

She looked the same as she did the last time I saw her: red blazer, white blouse, red and yellow striped tie, and grey skirt.

"Like what you see?"A feminine voice asked Nina, purring in delight. I couldn't catch the voice's face, or pinpoint who it was, either. I knew one thing for certain, though: it was a woman speaking to Nina right now.

It _looked_ like a dream, but it didn't really _feel_ like one. It felt more like I was _watching_ the dream instead of _being in it_. "Well?" the woman pressed, remaining in the darkness.

"Yeah," Nina agreed, no tremble in her voice whatsoever. "I do like what I see." The woman groaned before turning farther away - as a reaction to that, Nina laughed to herself, rolling her eyes. "I don't know why you've dragged me here, but I hope you know that I can just escape any time that I want."

"First of all," the joy in the woman's voice was evident as her footsteps echoed around the room. "The door is locked and I have the key, and you know perfectly well what would happen if you tried to steal it from me. And even if you were, somehow, to escape from this room, we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your friends, now would we?"

"I guess not," she breathed, not scared, but not all that courageous either.

"Yes," the other woman agreed; Nina and she were in a room, not in Shadowland, but a room all the same. "Yes, we wouldn't want that, would we? Or you might actually stop sending the dreams this time."

"I...I stopped sending the dreams weeks ago," Nina defended, holding her hands behind her back. She looked anxious, which was pretty much evident; I'd be anxious too if my kidnapper found out that I was lying about something so big like the dreams she was sending.

"Oh, don't play dumb, Nina," the woman cooed sweetly; she lifted her arm and her hand moved towards Nina's face, but she took a step back before the woman could touch her and/or I could scream for her to not let that psycho touch her. "I'm not stupid, after all. And besides, a little birdie told me that you stopped sending the dreams yesterday."

"Who?" Nina wondered innocently, still a few meters away from the woman.

"That's nothing of importance," the woman brushed the question away, shuffling through some sort of drawer, evidently looking for something. Nina stood alone, dancing on her heels, unsure of what to do or where to go since she wasn't in Shadowland any longer, and she couldn't leave the room without being attacked by the woman.

It felt strange to be calling Nina's kidnapped 'the woman' again; before, back before Halloween, we had been calling the kidnapper 'the man', until we found out the person he'd taken over was named Paul and before we learned he was Eddie's worst brought to life. I knew that voice from somewhere...I just couldn't place it...

"What _is_ important, however," the woman's voice continued, "Is that you _are_ sending the dreams. And this is my lucky day, since I know that you _have_ been sending them all this time."

Silence ensued between them for a moment, until the time kept moving and the clock kept ticking. "You know," Nina spoke up bravely, calling for the woman's attention, "What I don't understand is why you feel so intent on me sending the dreams. By me giving my friends the dreams...they're getting more information...therefore they can get me out, but your destiny is to destroy me since you're Eddie's opposite, since you're Eddie's worst, and it's _his_ destiny to protect me."

"Oh, dear," the woman's British accent curled, "By sending the dreams, I'm doing my job! You're destroying yourself by sending the dreams, love. You think they'll come and get you, but you know perfectly well what will happen when they come into Shadowland with the answer to the curse, but you're just too cowardly to admit it."

She sighed. I wanted to know what was going to happen when we finally found the answer to the curse (would it be as bad as the woman was saying it was?), but now Nina was peaking my interest; she knew what was going to happen, apparently, and so did Mara and Alfie. But they'd told me before that we were going to _rescue_ her on Winter Break, but now the woman was saying that something was going to happen to Nina before that?

Sibuna was going around in circles.

"What happens next?" Nina wondered, asking quietly, still dancing on her heels. "I mean...once you win. What happens?"

But the woman only grinned, making eye contact before turning away to continue sifting through the papers in her desk drawer. While I watched Nina bob on her heels and the woman throwing loose papers on the floor, I suddenly remembered the times when Sibuna was first getting the dreams, in the middle of October. I had trouble moving at first, for whatever reason, and now it seemed that factor had come back to play. I knew this wasn't a 'traditional' dream, per say, but something definitely wasn't right.

"And what if you don't win?" Nina suggested, her voice no louder than it had been any before.

The woman guffawed, making Nina cringe in either fear or discomfort. "I will win, but...let's say something happens and I don't...then I suppose you'll have your happy ending with all your friends and I'll be suffering for eternity. Yes, that wouldn't be so good, would it?" The woman stepped closer with her palm out, reaching toward Nina's cheek. I wanted to smack it down; I knew Nina was on edge every day after what Mr. Winkler had done to her in the first couple of weeks of her disappearance. Luckily, Nina smacked the woman's hand down before I could.

A long stare between them ensued; Nina was slightly trembling, whether with fear or cold, I couldn't know. I _knew_ this was just a dream, but ever since October 17th, all the dreams had been actual reality, and if this was what was happening right now—

"You _want_ me to win, don't you?" the woman asked Nina innocently, moving her hand back to her side. "I see it now...you're afraid of what the others will think of you if I do lose and you have no choice but to go back home to Anubis House. You're already destroying yourself by sending the dreams, because you don't really want to send the dreams, and if you could go back in time and not send that first dream, you wouldn't, but now you're afraid that the others will think you're selfish."

Nina didn't say anything, but this was the first time I was hearing of this. Would she really think that we'd call her selfish? (Well, Amber and Patricia _maybe_, but) Maybe she could be defined as selfish in an outsider's eye, but all of us in Anubis knew why she was sending them. And besides, she couldn't stop sending them now. Not after everything she's put us through.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Nina suggested, moving her arms in a recommending fashion. "I mean, isn't that your destiny? To destroy me?" The woman nodded her agreement. "So why didn't you just kill me when he took me back on October 17th?"

"That would be too boring," the woman explained. "Having fun torturing you and your friends has given me great pleasure, all the while succeeding in my duty. After all...if I didn't, I'd be long punished by the Egyptian gods by now. Also, Chosen One, if you keep back-talking me, I may just end my fun right here and now!" She held her arms the same way Nina did before.

"Found it," she breathed joyfully after a few moments of hearing nothing but the rustling of papers in the desk in which the woman was searching. "Got it. Come along now, Nina, let's go back to Shadowland." Nina nodded gravely, turning on her heels instead of dancing on them. The woman had just opened the door and turned around, and that was when I finally saw who she was. And, just like on the third day of Nina's disappearance, I recognized both the voice and the holder of the voice, as I saw the woman every single day.

I woke up with a gasp for air.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>I couldn't pin point the room they were in, but I could definitely pinpoint the voice, and the face most definitely, once that woman had walked into the light.<p>

I didn't give much thought to it; Nina's 'kidnapper' had changed three times over the course of a month, now. Who the person was didn't matter right now, as we knew it was always Eddie at his worst, after all. My breathing wasn't rough or ragged, nor was I trying to catch my breath, but my breathing sounded like I had been standing in the freezing cold all day long.

Careful not to wake Mick (He couldn't understand; he _wouldn't_ understand), I ripped the blankets off my body and tiptoed my way to Eddie's bed, which was placed irresponsibly in the middle of the room, so the feet of the bed were in front of the door. Trudy had walked into the foot of Eddie's bed one too many times since he arrived on November 1st.

"Eddie," I whispered, careful not to disturb the silence of the middle of the night. If you weren't inside my mind, you couldn't have understood why I was going to Eddie for help. While I knew he was Nina's protector and knew more about Shadowland and the search than Sibuna and I had collected in almost two months, there was something else in the air. I didn't completely trust him, but I knew he could help.

After Eddie came out of the door last night, announcing that he couldn't find Nina, we walked back to the House in absolute silence. I was pretty sure even the original Sibuna thought she was dead; I did, too, for a moment there. However, though, Eddie was surprisingly the most concerned about Nina's sudden disappearance from the place she had resided since she disappeared originally — Eddie seemed the most disturbed out of the seven of us on the road, and I could understand that, but at the same time I felt like he didn't have as much of a right to be upset as I did.

He wasn't there last year. He wasn't there when Patricia, Jerome, and Alfie were constantly taunting and teasing her in her first few days because everyone branded her as a murderer; he wasn't there to comfort her when Sarah passed away and she was upset for at least two weeks after that; he wasn't there in the beginning, the middle, and he wouldn't be there in the end.

It was completely illogical and just a bit selfish, but I kind of wished I was Nina's Osirian, instead of Eddie. Has he _ever_ protected her, really?

"Mm," he murmured, as I attempted to wake him up in the middle of the night. "Homework. No, Dad. Protect students. Nina dying. No homework."

"We have to go," were the first words out of my mouth, shaking him, taking a stab at waking the deadbeat up. I knew he was difficult to get out of bed — sharing a room with him for twenty-six days so far had proven that — and I wasn't sure what he meant with the 'Nina dying' comment, but that wasn't the first thing on my mind. "I know where Nina is. Come _on_, Eddie, we have to go now."

He didn't shoot up, but he did seem to become more alert with the comprehension of my words. His hazel eyes half closed, he muttered, "You know where she is?"

"Yes," I hissed, not menacingly or evilly. "And I think if we don't go quickly, we might lose our chance."

"Mara and Alfie said that we're rescuing her on Winter Break," Eddie complained, his voice still filled with sleep. I watched him incredulously as he turned around and buried his head in his white pillow, blocking out all sounds; and people _wondered_ why I thought he shouldn't be Nina's Osirian? (I knew he cared about her, but when it came down to it...) "It isn't Winter Break yet. Let's just wait until then."

"And if we don't go now, there might not be a rescue on Winter Break," I tried to convince him to get up out of bed quietly, without waking my other roommate, but to no avail. Eventually, I just left him sitting there, wiping the sleep out of eyes once he had finally sat up, even though it took a pillow to his face multiple times for him to simply sit up.

I had no idea of the time, so I was extra quiet as I climbed the stairs to the girls' corridor. Victor was sound asleep in his study, but I took precaution even as he was snoring, making my way through the doors and shutting it without a creak. The first door I opened after that was Amber's.

Seeing Nina's empty bed had always made me a bit sad, so I tried to block it from my field of view as I stepped inside their bedroom. It took a bit for Amber to get up, as she was more of a heavy sleeper than Eddie was, but it took even longer to wake Patricia up once Amber had finally agreed to get out of bed and slip on her pink bathrobe. Patricia didn't wake Mara or Joy, as I told her not to, since I only wanted the original Sibuna involved in this task.

Unfortunately, Mara was a _light_ sleeper. She heard Patricia chuck the pillow at my face when I first tried to wake her up, and she heard me yell at the redhead for doing so. By the time Patricia slipped on her purple bathrobe, Eddie had awoken Jerome and Alfie, who were both wearing brown bathrobes, so now Patricia had purple, Amber had pink, I had grey, Jerome and Alfie had brown and Eddie had blue. Nina would have blue, too, if she were here instead of all the way at the warehouse.

All the boys (excluding Mick) and all the girls (excluding Joy) were with us as Eddie, very confused as to why I was demanding we travel to the warehouse at three in the morning, led us there. He kept muttering about the fact that 'no one is allowed to get in but him' and 'it's useless because we wouldn't be able to get in' but the ominous feeling that had resided in my chest ever since the afternoon of the seventeenth had been stirring ever since I woke up. Something was going on.

By the time we arrived at the warehouse, the chain of Nina's locket was wrapped around my index finger so tightly blood flow had been ceased. As Eddie unlocked the door and opened it with a creak, inviting the five of us inside, I untwisted the chain from around my finger, leaving a purple indent where it had sat.

It had been weird to carry Nina's locket in my hands as of late; last year, when Nina quit Sibuna because she hospitalized Alfie, I had carried Nina's locket for her for only a day or two, but I knew Nina. I knew she wasn't permanently quitting; and, just as I had predicted, she accepted our invitation back into Sibuna the next day. Unfortunately, Nina wasn't here to collect her locket the day after she found it, and she didn't come and get it on the 19th, the 20th, or the 21st, or any day after that.

Eddie told us to stay put in front of the door as he took a quick scan of the perimeter; Amber protested, saying that her flats were getting dirtier by the second, but I retracted back to Patricia, who was standing alone with her purple bathrobe flapping in the middle-of-the-night wind. She was playing around on her phone, scrolling down, but she seemed to stop and look at something for many consecutive seconds.

"What are you looking at?" I asked her, craning my neck to get a closer look. If Patricia was acting like her normal self, she would have blocked the screen from my field of view, but Patty hadn't been the same since she realized that Nina wasn't sending her a dream, unlike everyone else in the House of Anubis.

Since she didn't remove the phone, I saw her screen: it was the main screen of Amber's profile page on the social media website the school provides for us. It happened so suddenly but I flashed back to August 29th, the day Nina came back to Creepy Towers for her second term here. Amber had coaxed me into going into the attic because she, apparently, found something related to the search for the Cup of Ankh from last year but — shocker! — it was just Sarah's old things and some dusty old artifacts.

By the time I was about to leave, to go back down and settle down with a nice book, Amber shoved Nina in the attic; the first time we had been face to face in nearly three months. We started talking about our summers, what we did and who we saw, and about what we'd do in this new term since the mystery of the last had been alleviated.

She told me to just forget about the mystery, that it was in the past. I did so happily, but by the time she had fallen asleep next to me, I couldn't stop thinking about everything else that had happened, especially because Nina refused to tell me where she had hidden the Cup of Ankh. Nina, even though we spent two months and five thousand miles apart, was still as much of a mystery as I remembered her to be. I thought of all the possible places she could have hidden it: the attic, the cellar, somewhere in her room, somewhere in _my_ room, the burnt elm tree...the world was a big place, and for all I knew, Nina had hidden the Cup back in her house in America.

Now, Patricia was staring at Amber's profile picture that she'd never changed; a photo of Nina and I sleeping in the attic. Amber had made it her profile photo all the way back in August, but had never changed it, and now I thought she wouldn't change it until this whole dream business was done and finished with. "Shut it," Patricia said, rather kindly and strangely. "I don't really remember what she looks like, okay?"

I scoffed. "Come on, Patricia," I said, "It's only been forty-one days, not two years." Patricia, then, tried to convince me that because she never got a dream, she couldn't remember every single feature of Nina's existence. I could understand forgetting _voice_, but _face_? Patricia saw her housemates every single day.

Patricia sent me a look that I couldn't read, as there were too many emotions to pinpoint a single one. And in that moment, I almost saw what she was talking about; there were times when I had trouble picturing her face. You never really know when you might be seeing someone for the last time; if I had known that on October 17th, when Jason stopped both Nina and I as we were walking out the door, that right there would be the last time I'd see her in person for almost three months, would I have acted differently?

The door creaked open when Eddie came back with a sound that could wake the neighbors, if there were any neighbors around. "Alright," Eddie whispered, breaking the silence between the seven of us. "Let's go in."

He led us in quietly, to the blue door in which Amber and I had saw all those days ago, on the second day of Nina's disappearance. At that time, I had no idea what its purpose was, much less that we'd be coming back to it. "Fabian," Eddie said, "You told me before that you had a dream?" I nodded, even though it wasn't really a dream, but all the same, Eddie continued: "Okay. Do you have her locket?"

I handed it to him, unsure of what he was going to do. The string lingered in my fingers for a moment, slowly slipping out of my grasp and into Eddie's, for him to take care of instead of me. All heads turned to me, and even though Eddie was more of a leader than I could ever be, somehow depended on me for answers when they asked me how to get in there, since I was the one that suggested we go in there in the first place.

"Well..." I said reluctantly, "Eddie, do you know how to get in?"

"Of course I do?" he asked, most confused, even though it was a statement at the same time. "I mean...I can tell you how to get in, if you really, really want to. Paul had told me before, on my first day here, that he didn't want me telling anyone...but I guess you guys are already in on it." He licked his lip and scanned over everyone, his gaze finally resting on mine after a very long pause on Patricia's face. "I see you all are very much in on it. You've probably been in on it since...the day she went missing."

"Eddie, you're not writing the last page of a twenty-page essay," Patricia remarked snidely; she looked a bit pissed, but I'm sure all of us were since we'd been forced to wake up in the middle of the night, but some other emotion was residing with her as well. "Let's just get on with it. You know how to get other people in if Paul had fully closed off the entrance?"

"Well, if he's fully closed off the entrance, there's no way in the world anyone could get in," Eddie explained, a blank, vacant look in his eyes. "Even me. But...I do know how to get other people in, since he told me...beforehand..." The life in his eyes drained for a moment, inexplicably, but soon enough his usual flame had returned. "Anyway. After you."

"Eddie," I scolded him, annoyed, "You haven't told us how to get in yet."

"Right!" He jumped, "Right. So...the locket is needed to get in...I think you have to all put in—" After he had spoken, Eddie started to lean into the door, probably just to open it for himself since he could get in effortlessly, but his elbow opened the blue door with a _reeeeaaaaak_. "Oh," was Eddie's only comment as the rest of us stood in awe. Back when he was facing us, he muttered, "I think you're able to get in."

"Get in?" Alfie asked, and in response Eddie nodded. I couldn't believe a word of what he was saying; Eddie was prepared to start talking about how there were many reasons as to why we couldn't know how to get in and finish everything, and was about to tell us _how_ to get in too, and now suddenly he was saying we could possibly get in, no strings attached. "Are you sure its safe?"

"Well I can get in no matter what," Eddie began, still strangely showing no emotion whatsoever. "But I'm not sure about you guys. Would...would anyone be willing to volunteer?"

Alfie's hand shot up in the air; the rest of our heads turned his way in shock. Last year, he always hated it when he drew the short straw and had to go down to the cellar, even though he grew used to it by June. Amber almost gasped, and so did Eddie, even though Eddie barely knew us. "Are you sure?" Eddie asked, concern in his eyes, an actual emotion compared to before. Alfie nodded without saying a word, kissed Amber on the cheek before walking through the open door and quite possibly walking into his death. Eddie followed him just as quickly.

"Oh, God," Amber whispered, leaning into me, with Patricia on my other side. Mara was behind me — if Joy were here she'd be standing in between me and Patricia — and if Nina wasn't through the door that Alfie had just walked into, then all of the females in Anubis House had just surrounded me; a horrible decision, really. "What if he doesn't come back?"

"He'll come back," I assured her, even though I wasn't so sure myself. Amber, leaning into my shoulder, waited with anxiety until the two boys finally walked back through the door and into the warehouse, looking the same as they had when they first walked in. "So?"

I aimed my question for both of them as Amber released my arm from her wolverine-claw grip and ran to hug Alfie, so Eddie answered with: "Um...well, all of you can come in here."

"Does that mean we can finish this once and for all?" Amber wondered, hugging Alfie's waist while questioning Eddie's methods. She seemed...excited, almost. The most excited she had been since October.

"You always say that," Eddie complained. I noticed that while before, was was more anxious and lifeless, but now he looked like a little happiness had come to him again. I wasn't sure what had made him so happy during the few seconds him and Alfie were through there, but it definitely seemed good enough. "No. One way or another, we're getting her back during Winter Break! That's final. But...you can come in here...if you want to. I think Paul forgot to shut the door off, or something? I don't know what's up with him, but he's been acting...different. Different from normal, anyway." He paused, and everyone else was silent; Eddie realized a few seconds too late about the silence surrounding us. "You want to go in?"

There was a chorus of "Yes"s and even one "No" but I wasn't sure who had declined Eddie's invitation. I didn't say anything at all in fear; I was afraid of really going in there in a time that wasn't in a dream. We were going in there, yet we weren't scheduled to finish this 'quest' once and for all for another month. Something sinister was going on, and my dream earlier wasn't helping a bit.

I helped Amber, Patricia, Mara, Jerome, and Alfie into the door. Amber hung onto me the longest; I knew she was just as afraid as I was. I advised her to go in anyway, despite how angry she had been at her roommate when she first disappeared. Alfie was the one to guide Amber in by holding her arm and strutting through the door together. When everyone was through the door, only Eddie and myself remained.

"Come on," he said nonchalantly, moving his hand in the direction of the door. "Go through. I'll meet you there."

I took a step closer to the door, but didn't even consider going through it. Nina was actually _there_, through the door, on the other side. My best friend, my partner in crime, and my girlfriend were there, waiting for me, like she had been since October 17th. What was I supposed to do?

"Fabian, it'll be fine," Eddie looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept in days. "She'll be waiting for you. Now go, you'll want to meet up with the rest of Sibuna. They need you. "

I nodded slowly; it still didn't make sense that Eddie had only been here a month and yet knew all these things about us. He knew how nervous I was about going in there. Without saying a word or sparing a glance at my roommate, I closed my eyes and thought about last year's prom, how we finally finished the search and I got my first ever kiss.

Stepping through the door involved an odd feeling. Just like the early stages of the dreams, I felt like all of the energy inside of me had been sucked out while being brought the setting. It was a blast from the past, back to the times when Sibuna had none of this information.

I didn't understand it at all — it must have been my imagination — but as I was walking through the short "tunnel" to step into Shadowland, I had a sudden vision of something horrific. I couldn't pinpoint the time or place, much less the people in this vision, but time seemed off. There was something different about the scenery where we were; it was greener, more alive. Something about the way I was viewing the world was different. I could feel something, also: pain. Excruciating pain, and I was experiencing it. There were voices somewhere near me, but there was too much pain to think. It felt like a thousand knives, stabbing me all over, and I could do nothing to stop the pain.

I felt like blacking out as soon as the light through the "tunnel" receded; the pain was still there, along with the fact that I was seeing Shadowland for the first time.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>"Fabian! Are you okay? FABIAN?!"<p>

My eyes opened, despite how much they wanted to stay closed and think about anything other than the pain I had just experienced before. I quickly took in everything around me: Patricia, Amber, Mara, Jerome, and Alfie were all standing around my body, laying on the ground. My surroundings were the same as they had looked in all of my dreams so far: the house to the north, the woods to the east, the staircase south and a lake to the west. "I'm fine," I answered whomever's question, not caring as to who actually asked it.

Shadowland was quite a sight to see, for someone who had only seen it at night, in blurred dreams. It was surreal...I knew we weren't finishing it, but it sure as hell felt like we were. "Where's Eddie?" I asked, looking around to find him but only seeing five people surrounding me instead of six.

"We don't know," Patricia shrugged her shoulders. "We think he ran off. You were the last in, other than Eddie, and when you just collapsed like that, we all ran to see if you were okay. When we turned around, he wasn't there anymore."

"Nina?" I voiced the only thought occurring to my mind; we were currently in the place where she had lived for the past month and a half. Surely she had to be somewhere around here. After months and months of knowing her personally, I would think she'd want to greet us with love and spend as much time with us as possible, but I guess I was wrong, as she wasn't anywhere in my sight. Amber shook her head as a no, and even though I was disappointed, I wasn't all that shocked. I turned to the blonde boy standing a few yards away and said: "Jerome, did you have to heal me?"

I was referring to his ability to heal, as he was the Healer; Sibuna hadn't "embraced" their abilities all that much as of late. They weren't really needed, so we ignored them. However, Jerome shook his head. "Nope," he confirmed, "I knew you'd be fine. Maybe you'd consider telling us why you passed out like that?"

I knew why, of course. But when I thought about it again, the pain came back in flying colors. Wincing and leaning back against the cement staircase, Mara saved me from falling down the steps and breaking my skull open. I knew that the vision I had had wasn't real, but the pain felt so. I didn't know when or where or why or how, but pain was my clarity.

"Come on, let's get you up." Alfie offered a hand to help pull myself up off the cement, which I took gratefully. Standing up didn't prove to give me a better view of my surroundings, even though I saw how big the house to the north really was. It was times like these that I really wished Eddie didn't run off as much as he did; he'd be a valuable GPS and guide throughout this place. Plus, he was a much better leader than I ever was.

It didn't _feel_ much different than a dream, either. Sure, there wasn't the pull-apart feeling, because I wasn't asleep. I wasn't Nina, I hadn't been trapped here for over a month, nor was I Eddie, who was forced to visit this wretched place every single evening. I only visited it in my sleep, _if_ I was lucky enough to receive a dream. Patricia, so far, hadn't been as lucky as Amber or I had been; I couldn't imagine how weird it must feel, since this was her first time _ever_ seeing Shadowland.

"So what are we going to do?" Jerome questioned, looking around, just as confused as the rest of us. "What about Paul, isn't he here? _Shouldn't_ he be here?"

"Eddie would be able to tell us," Amber spoke up, leaning against a tree on the edge of the forest. Alfie was standing right next to her, and Jerome right beside him. "But, unfortunately, he isn't here. Isn't he Paul in his worst form, or something? Or the opposite? Oh, I have no idea of anything anymore."

"Well," an all-too-familiar voice, something I had heard rather recently, curled suddenly, making the six of us turn around quicker than anyone thought possible. "Anubis. My least my favorite bunch."

Kathleen Fitzgerald, the teacher who replaced Jason after he died almost one month ago. My senses had been on edge for the teachers since last year, when they were more concerned with eternal life than the life of one of their students, so I always knew something was off about our new teacher, but now...what was she doing here?

"What are you doing here?" Patricia voiced my thoughts, proving herself as the bravest one in Sibuna considering the circumstances. "Shouldn't you be in the school, with Sweetie or something? How did you get in here? How involved are you?"

"Oh, stop asking questions, Ms. Williamson," Mrs. Fitzgerald apprehended her, waggling her finger. She didn't sound mad, but she didn't sound all that pleased, either. "You'll never get anywhere. But, to all who may be dismayed, Paul is safe. To clear everything up, let's put it this way: I'm the same person as he was."

I understood then: Eddie's spirit/soul/whatever had abandoned Paul, the poor man who's life had been taken away from him, and had entered our History/Drama teacher's body. I'd hate to see what happened to her after Eddie's bad side left her, even though she was saying that Paul was safe; I didn't completely trust her, though, because look at what happened to Jason.

"I never expected you to be able to come in here..." she said nonchalantly, circling us like an eagle tracking down its prey. When she stood in front of the staircase, facing us, our backs to the house where Nina and Eddie resided on normal days. "I guess I'll have to reprimand him when I get a hold of him again, since he isn't with your wretched ground...I suppose he's with the Chosen One right now, wherever it is they may be."

"What are you doing?" Amber spoke, from where she stood by the tree. She didn't seem terrified, but frightened was a definite term to describe whatever it was she may have been feeling. "What are...what are you going to do with us?"

The only sound between the seven of us was the whistle of the wind in the middle of the night. Because Nina didn't send me that dream before, I thought that if I had gone back to sleep and hadn't insisted on Eddie taking us through the door, I might have been having an actual dream and gaining useful information right now, instead of listening to our teacher rant on. "I'm not going to hurt you," she assured us, "but now that you're here, I figure I better make the most of it, shan't I?"

"What are you going on about now?" Patricia remarked snidely, crossing her arms. She was definitely the the least terrified between all of us, but if Eddie was here, she might be acting completely differently. "What do you mean, 'make the most of it'? Are you going to kill us?" she taunted, and I wanted tlo wring her neck for giving her suggestions, but all Mrs. Fitzgerald did was waggle her finger at us once again and walk backwards so she was facing us.

"What I mean by that is that even though you know who I am, and I'm Eddie's worst," she decided to remind us, as if I needed reminding, "I'm still Kathleen deep down, just like Paul was still Paul...deep down. I'm still involved with the teachers, you know. You also know that you're a threat to us, so now that I've got you in here, why not _keep_ you in here?"

Each of us, too frightened to speak, watched as Mrs. Fitzgerald abandoned us to our fate. We could have done something to stop it, perhaps, but with Eddie gone and none of us being brave enough to face the person who kidnapped our friend, we only watched as she reached the door that led back into the warehouse and spoke up with: "Sayonara, children. You'll still have detention on Monday!"

She shut the door with a slam that echoed around the entire perimeter. Still frozen in shock, I heard a slam, and a click, that evidently meant that she had locked us in here with no knowledge about this place, nor how to get out. A rat in a maze, a tiger in a cage, any cliche you could think of; we were trapped.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>One wouldn't normally react in the way we had, but then again, I doubt many people have gotten trapped in alternate dimensions before. We didn't run up and pound on the door, as it kind of settled with us that there was no way out of here. Kathleen had sealed the doors shut, condensing all of us inside, not just Nina or Eddie. Our only hope was Joy andor Mick, but both of them were asleep and I doubt our cell phones would work. Then again, I never tried.

"What do we do?!" Amber was on the edge of hysterics; I didn't know what was wrong with her. I knew she was scared, we all were, but for some reason, she seemed more than just frightened. Hysteria was lingering with her, threatening a panic attack. I could almost see the tears leaking out of her eyes and onto her cheeks. "If we're — if we're — trapped — in here — if we're trapped in here — what — what do we do — oh my god — Alfie —"

"Amber," he commanded, slowly, softly. He approached her like a rabbit; if he walked too fast towards her with his arms outstretched, she'd run away, and the last thing we needed was for one of us to get lost in the woods. "Breathe. Enunciate the words." I was reminded of October 21st, over a month ago, on the evening that we'd gotten the fake call that told us the police had 'found' Nina's body.

It wasn't real, of course, but at the time, Sibuna didn't know that. I'd only gotten two dreams at that point, and the possibly of me just going insane and dreaming of her to keep my memories and myself at bay was becoming more and more real as the days passed. I couldn't even explain my emotions when I saw Alfie comforting Amber on the floor after she had heard the words that said her best friend was dead. I wasn't on the phone, I didn't know what they said that caused Amber so much anguish and a whole deal of grief that she just screamed and collapsed on the floor, but Alfie, being a supportive friend and boyfriend, had helped her through her sobs.

I turned to the rest of them, trying to think of a way out even though the possibly of being trapped in here forever was scaring me shitless. "Okay," I breathed, my heart pounding. For a moment there, I actually thought that it was going to pound out of my chest, as I could feel it in my fingertips. "So...does anyone know what to do? Does anyone know where Eddie is?"

"I'll go look for him," Patricia spoke bravely, her voice never wavering or giving away any impression that she was scared at all.

"Are you sure?" I walked on the concrete, passing Jerome and Mara on my way over to her. I placed my hand on her arm and looked her straight in the eye; I knew she was mad, I knew she was confused, plus she must have been feeling like she was trapped along with the rest of us. "I don't want to send you off on anything you don't want to go on, especially to find Eddie."

"No, I want to go," she confirmed, craning her neck behind her back, most likely to get a better look at her surroundings as she had never seen this place before in dreams, therefore having no prior knowledge to what it looked like. "I'll find him somehow and bring him back, I swear. He'll help us, won't he?"

"Immensely," I told her. "And hey...maybe on your travels you could find Nina, wherever she is." In response, she hugged me as a goodbye and ran off into the forest. My last view of her was her red hair flying behind her as she sprinted off, no direction whatsoever, just going by instinct. I know she had good hearing, especially because she was The One Who Can Hear, but still, she was going to find Eddie, who had counter-acted with her since he first came. "Anyway," I addressed the rest of us: Jerome and Mara, Amber and Alfie. Patricia was off seeking the Osirian and the Chosen One in the woods, and Eddie and Nina were wherever they were. "What do we do?"

"You're not scared?!" Mara asked incredulously, hugging Jerome's waist. Just what I needed: another scared member who was too petrified of their surroundings to do anything worthwhile. "You're not afraid something's just going to jump out and...kill you?"

"There's no werewolves here, Mara," Jerome assured her, glancing up at the night sky above us. I wasn't sure of the exact time, but I presumed it was sometime early in the morning. The moon was almost half-full, but the sky was clouded, so the stars weren't visible. "Nothing is going to come out and eat you. We're safe, since that _witch_ is gone...I can't believe she locked us in here. We're not animals! I don't think she realizes that _we can't help her_!"

"Exactly," I murmured my agreement, tearing my gaze away from the other four. I saw the big building behind them: the house where Nina had lived, where Eddie visited almost every evening, the house which served as a prison and which I saw whenever I was lucky enough to be blessed with a dream. "I think we should go to the house, right behind you. I think...I think we might find something useful."

"Why don't we split up?" Mara suggested, calling Alfie over from where he stood, comforting Amber. "I mean, Alfie and I can go over to the fog there, since that's the entrance slash exit, and you, Jerome, and Amber can go inside the house!"

"Why do you want to go to the entrance?" I asked.

They shared a look. I was temped to ask them because only yesterday, they were about to tell me _how_ we were going to rescue her, not _when_. It was something that had been pounding at the back of my head for days now; if Alfie, of all people, wasn't telling anyone, than it must have been bad, and bad news wasn't something I liked to celebrate especially considering the circumstances.

"No reason," Alfie lied, but I fixed him with a look and he shut up immediately. "Okay, I don't know what we intend to find, but maybe like a crease, or a flaw in the plan, or something. I don't know. But we can't be trapped in here forever, can we? I mean...you were saying that Nina was in the school in your dream, and even she can't get out because she was cursed, right? There _has_ to be a flaw in the plan somewhere, I'm telling you."

"Okay, so you guys go off," I told them, then they rushed to the fog, disappearing within five seconds. I wanted to join them, but I noticed that Amber was alone as Alfie had abandoned her to do his Seeker business with Mara. It felt kind of like October 19th, the third day of Nina's disappearance, the day after my first dream when I comforted Amber in her bedroom because she_ just couldn't deal with the fact_ that the bed next to her, her best friend's bed, was empty. I couldn't understand how it would feel to wake up on the morning of October 18th, greeting her, then finding out she was still missing and having no idea where she was.

I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Amber gave me a brave smile. "Come on, guys," I told Jerome and her, pointing my head to the house in the distance. "Let's go look."

"What do you expect to find there?" Jerome questioned, his bright blue eyes gleaming in the dark night as the three of us walked slowly towards the house.

"I don't know," I repeated, sarcasm leaking through my tone. "What do you want to find there, Jerome? You are the Healer, after all. What can you Heal when there_ is nothing_ to heal?"

He rolled his eyes, but I wasn't quite done yet. "Like, I don't know what I expect to find in there. But it's where Nina and Eddie go every single day. When Eddie's not in his bed in the mornings, I know he's here, in that house up ahead. We should look, maybe we'd find something on the elixir or something—"

"The elixir?!" Amber exclaimed, brushing my hand off her shoulder and fixing Jerome and I with a glare so strong it could bend metal. That was when I realized that we still didn't tell any of the females about my whole elixir theory yet; Jerome smiled his usual wise-cracking smile, the kind he had whenever he formed a plan to prank the seventh graders with his partner-in-crime.

"Tell me, Amber," he began, "Would you be willing to go down to the cellar and find another sample of the elixir?" Amber started to protest about how she thought Sibuna was done with the cellar, that we'd never have to go down there again, but I interrupted with the fact that when we were finalizing the search for the Cup of Ankh last year, I lied to Victor about throwing the elixir away. I hid it up in the attic, when Amber forced me to go up there back in September to reunite with Nina. I figured we'd need it again, if Sibuna came back to bite us in the bum, and I was right.

"What do we do when we find the actual elixir?" Amber asked. "Like, what happens after that? We only got in here because the door was open, to let us in, and now we can't get out. We don't know how to get in here to rescue Nina in the first place, even though we know how to get her out? And what's going to happen when we get the elixir to her? Like...how is this going to work?"

I ignored her once we had reached the door; it was a glass door, with a design on the front and a thin screen, most likely to keep insects out, on the inside. Beyond that was a door, which, luckily for us, wasn't locked. I'd hate to know the lengths we'd go to to find the key to open it.

"Okay," I told them, "Do you want to split up? Because I figure—"

"No," Amber interrupted immediately.

"Why not?" I asked her incredulously, letting them walk in in front of me. I didn't speak my next sentence when I stood, shocked, in complete awe of the inside of the house which I had only ever seen once in my life. It was weird, almost; as soon as I walked in, I saw a broken, ripped couch with a ketchup stain on one of the arms; most likely the work of Eddie. There was no real proof to confirm that Nina had lived here for the past month and a half unless the Anubis residents were around to confirm it, but I had a feeling we might not be telling the story of Sibuna to our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or even the crew on the Keldysh.

"I just don't want to lose you," she admitted. All three of us were fully in the house now, in the room with the ripped couch. "We don't know what could be in here. Some monster could eat you...or something. I don't want to lose you the same way I lost my best friend."

I smiled sadly and hugged her; I had lost my best friend, too.

"Come on," Jerome waved his hand, but he didn't sound the least bit impatient. He wasn't all that close to Nina, so I didn't know why he was getting all empathetic for us. "We might find something useful if we stick together. Do you think, like, Nina hid anything about the elixir or something else around here?"

"Dunno," I shrugged, picking at the peeling paint on the walls. An ominous feeling resided in my chest, warning me about something that hadn't yet arrived. "She might have. She's a smart girl, she'd know if we were going to be in here. How much more is there to know, now? We know where the entrance is. We know when you're getting her out. It's true we don't _know_ how to get in here, since the entrance was open for us to come in beforehand, but how much more can we learn?"

"How to get out of here?" Amber muttered sarcastically; I could tell that some of Patricia's snarkyness had been wearing off on her, since they spent a lot of time together nowadays. I picked a piece of the green paint off the walls, letting it rest on my finger, while Amber slowly tiptoed around the corner, sticking her head across to see further down and calling out: "Fabian, do you even know your way around this house? It looks like a maze...if we go any further in, we might never come out."

"Do you think we should?" I turned to Jerome, who just shrugged his shoulders and thinned his lips out. "Well, I think we should go in there. If anything happens, Jerome, you can heal us, since, you know, you're the Healer. I mean, if there's any clues as to where Eddie might be in here, than we can find Nina, wherever they might be. If they're in the woods, than Patricia might be able to locate them."

I couldn't understand what was happening properly, but suddenly all I could see and hear was a setting I couldn't place, but the voices were definitely my clarity. I knew, somehow, that this was all in my head...but it was overtaking me, and all I could hear was this a laugh. A laugh that sounded rather familiar; it was Nina's laugh. I couldn't see her face or the person she was holding hands with, but judging by the way she was laughing, I presumed it was me.

Then, the voices started getting louder.

_"Oh my God."_

_"What? Nina, what is it?"_ The person she was laughing with was definitely me, because the person who had asked that shared my voice. The setting become more clear, now, and I could see faces, but it was all faded like a 1940's film.

_"Look." _

_"Oh, no. Nina, stay back."_

_"No, I'm not staying back."_

_"I'm not letting you get hurt! I just got you back! I can't risk losing you again."_

_"You won't lose me. He doesn't scare me anymore. I don't know what he wants, but I can face him."_

"Fabian?" asked a voice in reality, a voice that wasn't in the vision-like thing I had just experienced. Apparently, I had fallen down during the period of time I was out while staring at my inner subconscious, and now Jerome was offering a hand to help me up. I was surprised at his concern, just like I was surprised at his concern all the way back in October, the morning before Amber and Patricia had lost their hearing/sight for the first time. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I shook my head, trying to sort out my thoughts. "Do you know where Amber is?"

"Over here," she called out, from the hallway where I suggested going in. Jerome was giving me a concerned glance, and sure, I was a bit distressed myself because I couldn't analyze the vision I had seen, but as Jerome and I began to walk toward her, Amber wasn't finished speaking. "Um...I think you should see this." Her voice didn't sound the least bit pleased or happy.

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>Patricia<strong>  
><strong>Saturday, November 26th, 2011 - 5:40 AM<strong>

Just my luck to bump into Eddie, of all people, on my solo journey that I specifically wanted to be _solo_. I knew I said I was going to go look for him, but in all honesty my pain priority was to look for Nina and reprimand her on not sending me a dream, out of all the people she could have sent the dreams to. I just figured that Nina and Eddie go hand-in-hand; wherever you can find Eddie, you can find Nina.

"You again?" Eddie complained once I felt the skinny frame of the boy clash into mine. I was blinded for only a moment from the collision, but it made me think of the horrid times when I was _actually_ blind; being blind barely helped the fact that my hearing was beyond words, since I couldn't actually see the speaker of the item that was making the noise.

"Yes," I replied, snarkily. "Me. Your worst nightmare."

At my comment, he laughed and turned away, rolling his eyes. "And exactly is your worst nightmare, hmm?" I tested him, since apparently, he wasn't afraid of anything. He wasn't afraid of punishment by Victor, or being reprimanded by his father, and he didn't care what anyone else thought of him.

"Nothing, Patricia," he answered sweetly, staring off into the distance. I couldn't see exactly what he was looking for, but he seemed rather invested in finding it.

"I'm serious!" I pushed him. In reality, I couldn't care less, but finding out Eddie's one weakness might work to my personal advantage. I could squeeze more information out of him, and possibly wrap up this search earlier than expected. "What's your worst nightmare?"

Surprisingly, he obliged in telling me, which I didn't expect him to. "Failure," he admitted, walking straight ahead with a vacant look in his eyes, like the spark that was usually there had been burned out suddenly.

"Failing who?" I wondered. I knew _something_ was wrong with him, but I couldn't be sure of what. Eddie didn't seem quite his scheming, snarky, rebel self I would see on a normal day in Anubis.

"Nina," he admitted without sparing me a look. "My dad. Myself. I guess failure would be my biggest fear, since I've just been programmed in the last few weeks to just...not fail. I don't know what would happen to me if I did fail..." he seemed to notice how intently I was staring at him, since I was amazed at how much he was admitting. I wondered if he knew he was talking to me and not Nina, who he seemed the most comfortable with, and he didn't even live with her.

I raced to change the subject, since I didn't want to pry, nor come off with the impression that I actually cared about him or what he did in his spare time. "You see her a lot?"

"Who, Nina?" he asked. "Yeah. I see her practically every day, since I try to come in here each evening..." For the quickest moment, he shared a look with me, and his hazel eyes weren't all that vacant anymore. There was something in them, but I couldn't place it. "Why are you asking me this? You _know_ I'm good friends with Nina."

"Well, yeah, but still. You see her every day," I told him, "Fabian and the others can only see her for a select amount of minutes at night. And I haven't seen her, nor heard her, for over a month now."

"Oh, is little Patty jealous?" He taunted. In response, I groaned and rolled my eyes, turning away. I didn't know why I was walking alone with him; anything could happen. It could end in either 1) me getting pregnant or 2) one of us dying. And "one" would be Eddie. I knew the real reason I bumped into Eddie was because I figured Nina would be with him, but when he smashed into me yet again, she wasn't anywhere in sight. If she wasn't with Eddie, or the rest of the team, where could she be?

"Eddie, you _know_ I've admitted that yes, I am jealous!" I smashed my fist into my other hand in an attempt to explain. "I admit to it. It's not fair that Mick, who Nina probably spoke to _twice_ in her entire term, gets a dream before I do."

He sighed. "Patricia, I'm sure Nina has her reasons, whatever they are. Stop pestering her when you have no idea what she's going through."

A scoff issued from my mouth. "Come on now, Eddie. You know that isn't _that_ troubled. Fabian's said it thousands of times that she's safe and sound and her experiences in Shadowland have had no affect on her whatsoever." At my comment, Eddie let out a quick guffaw of laughter. I felt offended that he had laughed at me; he barely knew me, so why should he judge me?

"You think I don't know Nina?" I asked him incredulously, my pace in harmony with his. He held in another laugh, covering his mouth with his hand, making me groan in frustration. "So what if I haven't got a dream yet? So what if this is my first time seeing what Shadowland really looks like? I know her better than you do," I stated matter-of-factly, which was actually a true fact. True, I had only known Nina for fourteen months now, but it was better than Eddie's twenty-six days.

"Oh really? So do you know that her grandmother died this summer?" He questioned, out of the blue.

"What?!" was my quick response, always witty, always ready for action. His response hit me so quickly, easier than a WHAM line, but still, it shocked me to say the least.

"Yeah, her grandmother died over the summer. I guess that's one detail she forgot to tell you when she was with you in September and October, huh? I guess it's something she told _me_, but not you?" Eddie's very distinguishable voice spoke over the silence of the forest, as the only sound other than our voices was the crunching of the leaves under our shoes.

"Her grandmother died?" I asked cautiously, twiddling my thumbs. I'd known Nina's parents died since the third day in Anubis, but I'd never imagined her being family-less. She'd always had her grandmother, and now, according to Eddie, she really had no one. "As in, passed away? Not here? Buried underneath the earth?"

"Yeah, Yacker, that's pretty much what _dead_ means," he said, rolling his eyes but amused at the same time.

"But why wouldn't she tell me? We're in Sibuna together!" My voice wasn't loud at all, but if I had raised my voice the slightest bit, Nina might have heard me and come running. It would be the first time since October 17th that I'd see her in person, and maybe I could even ask her why she wasn't giving me a dream and causing me so much confusion and grief, but my voice stayed lower than a whisper. "We've been through everything together."

"Why hasn't she been sending you dreams? Who knows. That girl is a mystery, even to me." Now, Eddie rolled his eyes. I could tell that Nina annoyed the crap out of him because of how secretive she was, but he felt protective of her in the fact that above all, she was one of the most loyal friends I'd ever had. Joy blew me off when I'd asked for her help on a Physics assignment back in the day, but when I'd called Nina to bring me a blanket in the bike shed, she brought two. "She's trapped here all day, and her only means of communicating with her friends are by dreams. And when she does _send_ the dreams, she only sees Fabian or Amber or whoever for like three minutes before she sends them back. Patricia, Nina's more troubled than you ever thought she was."

"If her grandmother died over the summer...then that's why she came back to the House two weeks early!" I exclaimed, slamming my fist into my hand again. Eddie nodded sadly, agreeing with my statement. "And it explains why she'd never tell us why she came back so early! But...where is she going to go...after this school year is over? It's only our eleventh year of school, we still have grade 12 to go through, so..."

"Oh, she's going to be spending the summer with me." Eddie explained bluntly with no extra information.

"With _you_?" I wanted to scoff at the fact that Eddie had practically just considered adopting her when he'd only known her for twenty-six days. 26 diás. 624 hours. 37,440 minutes. Yet, Eddie seemed completely comfortable with the fact that he might just be spending the summer with a girl that had been held captive in an alternate dimension.

"Yeah, with me. You know, the only person that actually cares about her nowadays." He fixed me with a glare, obviously pinning me with the blame.

"Oh, come off it! You don't think _Fabian_ cares about her?" I asked him incredibly, once again.

"Of course I do," he acted like the answer was obvious, like none of the people in Anubis would give her the time of day if she were back in the House. How could he think we didn't care about her, especially when we had pretty much sacrificed our lives back there, for _Nina_? "He's head over heels in love with her. He still calls her his girlfriend even though she broke up with him weeks ago. But do you ever see him stepping up, taking action? I know a whole bunch of information, Patricia, and I've known Nina and you guys in Anubis for less than a month."

"You've got to be kidding me," I laughed. "You're kidding me, aren't you? I hope you are. You share a _room_ with Fabian, and yet you can't see that he's—you know what, I'm not fighting with you over this. I doubt you're even telling the truth about the whole grandmother thing, and I doubt after only knowing her for four weeks, you'd volunteer to basically adopt her."

"Hey, we've known each other for twenty-three more days than Rose knew Jack, and look at where they are."

"What?"

"Nothing," he dismissed his comment with a wave of his hand. "Look. She's a good friend of mine. My best friend, even, but I don't know if I can really say that, because I've never had a 'best friend' in my life before." He lifted his pupils to the sky; it was a nice nice, a quiet night. The stars were out, and somewhere in this perimeter, Nina was looking at the exact same stars.

We continued to walk away, but not before I stopped to consider what I was doing. I was walking alone in the woods with a man who, for 26 days, I said I hated, but now we were walking in silence without taunting or teasing each other. I was walking in Shadowland, yet I was only looking ahead at the path instead of around. For all I knew, Nina could have been right behind us, and I wouldn't have known.

I stared at him as he stared ahead, the blank look in his eyes returning. I don't know what, but the fact that he volunteered to basically adopt Nina, since her grandmother died in the summer...I knew they wouldn't go anywhere. Nina and Eddie's relationship, even from my experience of never getting a dream, was completely, 100% platonic. I didn't think either of them could ever develop feelings for each other, especially after all that's happened.

I couldn't understand what it was, but something about my opinion of him changed. Not a large bit, but big enough that I could look at him differently. I wouldn't see the rebel anymore — okay, so maybe I would — but maybe he cared, deep down. Maybe he was a softie that actually listened to Plumb instead of Sick Puppies in his spare time. There wasn't a huge amount of respect, but anyone that could come into Shadowland, report to someone as uptight as Paul, then deal with Nina's bossiness for hours upon hours every single day deserved a little bit of respect.

Suddenly, however, something happened. Eddie, right in front of me, collapsed on the ground. I was too in shock to do anything, because as soon as he hit the dirt, there were thumps in the distance. One thump, then another, and two more until there was a scream of "ALFIE!" and one final thump, so however screamed his name had collapsed as well.

The fear about being alone in a place I had no idea how to navigate couldn't overcome me, because as soon as the last thump fell, my thump echoed around me. My eyes were open for only a moment, so before the setting could overtake me, I saw Eddie, collapsed rather dramatically on the dirt, his eyes closed, mud on his plaid shirt and a shark tooth necklace hanging off the side of his body.

I didn't know what it was, but my eyes closed after I saw him, and voices with a faded setting was what I saw.

_"EDDIE! NO!"_

_"Nina, it's okay!"_

_"EDDIE! GOD...STOP IT! PLEASE!"_

_"Nina, shh...he's okay. He's going to be okay. Jerome's—"_

_"Fabian, LET GO OF ME!"_

_"Nina, you know I can't—"_

_"STOP IT! EDDIE! NO, NO, PLEASE STOP IT, STOP HURTING HIM!"_

_"Eddie!" The new voice that cried out was anguished, and there was a pulling sound near the female that was shouting. "Eddie...I'm sorry...you're going to be okay...just hold on a little bit longer. __Nina, move out of the way!"_

_"No, Patricia! I'm not moving out of the way!"_

_"You barely know him! NOW MOVE! JEROME, COME QUICK! Come on, Slimeball, if you die on me, I swear to God I'll—"_

_"PATRICIA! Let me help!"_

_A different voice with a concerned tone but definitely knew what he was doing: "Nina, move. You too, Patricia. I need space."_

_"Okay," one of the girls spoke. A rustling noise. Some groans and moans of pain, and in the distance, muffled sobs, presumably from the two girls watching._

_"Fabian," Nina spoke to him, "Oh my God."_

_"I know," the male voice spoke. Fabian had come back into the frame. "He'll be okay. Jerome is working. Eddie will be okay, I promise."_

_"This is all my fault."_

_"No, it isn't. None of us could have seen this coming."_

_And then, a long silence. For one short moment, Eddie's gasps of pain were a scream of agony, and Patrica's sob of grief was evident. Then, a relieved sob ensued and a relieved sigh from his girlfriend followed. A "thwump" was also heard, as Jerome collapsed from all the energy he put into healing Eddie. Therefore, as he was too tired out, he wasn't available to heal when:_

_"FABIAN!"_

_"Yes," a familiar voice curled, an all-too-familiar voice who no one liked hearing. "That boy is going to die."_

_"NO!" The scream was more agonizing than Patricia's. "FABIAN! NO! HE'S GOING TO DIE! HE'S GOING TO DIE!"_

_Screams, louder than Eddie's ever were._

_Footsteps that sounded like they were going nowhere. _

_Sobs, cries, and yells could be heard from miles around as Fabian was screaming and yelling in absolute agony. The pain was an eleven on a scale of ten, Harry Potter compared to Twilight. And no one could do anything to stop the pain, to stop Fabian's pain._

_"Save him! Save him...please...don't let him die..."_

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry for the length, oh god. Really, I am. Do you understand why this took me two weeks to write? I have no idea how I evolved from 4k words a chapter into 11k, but the next 22 chapters, the only ones we have left, will only be around 7-8k words. I know the fandom is dying out, but don't give up on me just yet, okay?**

**Days to write, seconds to review. I know it's a long shot, but if we could get to 400 reviews, you don't know how ecstatic that would make me. Pretty please with a cherry on top?! :)**


	47. I was going to say beautiful

** A/N: A round of applause for me. I missed SIX WEEKS.**

**However, I did pre-write, so I'm ahead of the game a little bit. I cut four chapters of this story that weren't useful to the plot line; so, now, Don't Be Afraid will OFFICIALLY have 64 chapters, and the final finishing date is May 18th, 2014. Can you guys stick around until then? I know I should have finished this back in 2012, but...I'm uber lazy. And now we're back to 17 chapters, and 17 more painful weeks of suffering, having to read this story. Fun, right?**

**It just passed midnight, so it is TECHNICALLY Sunday, though I doubt some people living in the East coast of the United States like I am might be awake to read this right now. It's been a year since I published Holy Ground, and that's something to be...afraid of. I also deleted six fics, too, so...I will, of course, TRY to get chapter 48 up on time, because gosh I'm so horrible with deadlines.**

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>Mara<br>Shadowland**

"Did you see that?"

"Of course I did," Alfie muttered, shakily, while I helped him up off the ground. He brushed some dirt off his jeans slowly, staring at the ground below us.

"Are you alright?" I asked Alfie for confirmation. He repeated my question back to me, but I was fine. Shocked, frightened, and upset, but I was fine. "Alfie, what are we going to do?"

The question was quiet, but our surroundings were quieter. The rest of the people that were here with us - Fabian, Amber, Jerome, Patricia, Eddie, and Nina, wherever she was - should have been making noise, but instead they were as silent as the chill of the wind around us. It was eerie, almost; Shadowland was supposed to be loud and obnoxious, like a prison, where no one wanted to be.

"I don't know," Alfie answered, staring down at the ground sadly. "I don't want...I don't want anything to happen. To anybody."

"Me neither," I admitted, meeting Alfie's eyes, the same color as mine. "But, Alfie, even though we're Seekers, we can't change the future, nor can we change the past. All we can do...is prepare."

We shared a long look that lasted at least thirty seconds. I could see desperation in Alfie's eyes; he had changed so much since I first met him, in 2007 when he was twelve years old. Because, when he was 12, the only things Alfie Lewis was concerned about was Amber Millington, pulling pranks with Jerome Clarke, and making a mess at the supper table. Now, he was in Sibuna, and I was enlightened of how brave he was. He might have always drawn the short straw, but he completed the task at hand anyway. Honestly, he was the bravest in Sibuna.

Now, too, he was actually concerned with someone else's safety. He didn't want the things we saw to happen to Fabian or Eddie, but now that we knew, we had to prepare. "Come on," I held on to his arm to steady myself, "Let's check out that entrance - portal - thing. Maybe we could figure out how to leave or something."

"Right." Alfie forced a smile as we descended the stairs. "More sleuthing. _Great_."

"Just come on."

It took a bit of coaxing to get Alfie through the fog after we stepped off the stairs, but eventually he agreed, only when I agreed to hold his hand through it. I could feel my hand losing feeling by the time we arrived at the entrance, even though it was just harmless fog.

Without a word, Alfie pounded both of his hands on the door and screamed, "Help! Help!" When there was no response, Alfie didn't give up; instead, he screamed louder. "HELP! HELP! SOMEONE, HELP!"

"Alfie!" I scolded him like we were back in 2010 and he was playing with his food yet again. "Stop! Screaming will get us nowhere."

Suddenly, something changed in the atmosphere around us just then. I hadn't noticed it, because I was so used to constant noise as I lived in Anubis House, but the chatter in Shadowland suddenly silenced when a high-pitched, tortured scream uttered from someone here in the woods.

The only people in the woods were Patricia, Eddie, and Nina.

"Well it has to get us _somewhere_," Alfie exclaimed, a panicked look in his eyes. "GET US OUT OF HERE! HELP US! PLEASE HELP, SOMEONE, PLEASE, HELLO!"

"Alfie!" I yelled out again, running in front of him and blocking the door with both of my arms to make sure he didn't do any more damage to it than he already did. Knowing Alfie, he might break the door down and we might never be getting out of here at all. "Relax. Stop it. There has to be a flaw in the plan. We can get out."

"It doesn't look that way to me!" Alfie exclaimed. He was probably still frightened because of the scream that either Patricia and Nina had uttered (I narrowed it down to the two girls because I didn't figure Eddie would be able to scream that high. And I didn't doubt Patricia's ability to scream like Amber did when 'she bought a doll's dress'.)

"Don't be afraid," I tried to assure him. "There's _always_ a flaw to the plan."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked quietly.

"What I _mean_ is that Nina was cursed," I began to explain, slowly, so as Alfie could keep up with me, "all the way back on October 17th. But Fabian told us on the way here that he had a dream that wasn't a dream that involved Nina in the school. That means she was out of Shadowland for at least a little while."

"Couldn't Paul have just broken the curse for a little while, or something?" Alfie asked. "Or, Mrs. Fitzgerald, now."

"Maybe," I contributed, "but doesn't it seem weird? Like, I don't think he could've, necessarily, removed the curse. Lessened it, maybe, but he had removed it...don't you think that Nina would be out of here by now?"

"Who knows with that girl," Alfie unnecessarily commented.

"It just doesn't seem right," I continued, moving my hands as I spoke. "There _has_ to a flaw to this plan somewhere, I know there has to be. Look—" I pointed to the blue door, slightly clouded by the fog that was surrounding us. "—There's no lock on our side. Therefore, Mrs. Fitzgerald, who's apparently the new MIR, locked it from the _warehouse_."

Alfie nodded, to tell me that he was listening. I continued, "But I still don't get how Nina left here if she was cursed? She told me, when I was kidnapped all that time ago and brought here, that she, Nina, could never leave. But she left here yesterday...? I don't understand any of this."

"Well, we could ask her that if she was here," Alfie grumbled, "but no, she had to be selfish and go off on her own."

"Alfie," I scolded lightly, slapping him on the arm, hard enough that he screeched and rubbed it. "You don't know half of what she's been through. She probably had a good reason for running away like that...hopefully Patricia found Eddie and Nina, wherever they were. If they're back, they can help us try to find a way out of here."

"But if _we_ can get out, why can't Nina?" Alfie wondered, and I shrugged in confusion. It was one of those questions that I was forbidden to know, but was one of my main wonders. I did have suspicions; maybe Mrs. Fitzgerald opened the door specifically for us, so we'd come in here just to get locked in, or she just forgot to lock it and noticed that we were making progress.

"Do you think we'll be trapped in here forever?" Alfie asked quietly, his eyes soft. He wasn't quite scared, but he wasn't all that courageous, either. "Do you think that was her plan? Will she come in here every day, barely feed us, and leave us with no way to get out? Will we have to send dreams to Mick and Joy, and together they'll have to find a way to rescue us alone when they only found out about Sibuna like a week ago?!"

"No," I assured him, placing my hand on his arm and rubbing it soothingly. I knew Alfie could be brave — Fabian and Amber had told me all about his heroic actions last year — but under pressure, he could crack, just like any other human being. "I'm sure we'll get out of here. We'll find a way. We just need to learn how to work this door!" I pounded my hands on the blue door, the fog clouding my vision.

"Ugh!" I finalized, giving up and sliding down to the ground against the door. "I don't understand this. Why would she want to lock us in anyway! Her main goal is to destroy the Chosen One."

(It was still all a little weird, but I had so little time to adjust that I just acted like it was all normal, like I had been a part of Sibuna since last year.)

Alfie nodded in acknowledgment, so I took a deep breath and continued. "I know she was cursed. She told me in my first dream. I wasn't cursed, so that's why I could get out of here when I was kidnapped some time ago."

"Oh, yeah," Alfie said quietly, sliding down next to me, "I remember that. Paul had taken you from the side of the street, the same way Nina was taken back in October, right?"

I nodded sadly, but decided to continue my story. It wasn't that bad of an experience; no one hurt me, or Eddie or Nina for that matter. Sure, I was absolutely terrified when I woke up to find myself chained to the wall, but Eddie and Nina had calmed me down and assured me that it would be okay, that if I behaved nothing would happen to me. "So, I wasn't cursed...but she was. So if she was cursed, how come Fabian had a dream that was at the school? Do we need to go_ there _instead?"

"And how exactly are we going to get there, Mara?" Alfie asked me incredulously, moving his arms to show me everything: the forest, the door, the house in front of us where Fabian, Jerome, and Amber were. "We're trapped in here, just the like the rest of them. What would we find at the school, huh?"

When I shrugged, he rolled his eyes and collapsed, letting the rest of his body fall to the floor so his head was facing the sky. "I can't believe we wormed our way into this," he continued, "I just want to get out of it. I want to get out of _here_. I just want to...I want to open this door with my Hufflepuff powers, and Mara, you can...you can open it with your Ravenclaw ones. And then, we can get the hell out of here and wait for nightfall to get a dream. Maybe Nina could tell us something about the door that we don't know or something."

"We know _some_ things," I tried to convince him, sliding down next to him. The night sky was so peaceful; while the sun was bright and stored energy, the moon was calmer. Artemis was much calmer than Apollo could ever be. "We know there _has_ to be a way for us to open it, other than just pure coincidence. How else would we get her out in Winter Break if we couldn't get in?"

"Well, then, what's the way?" Alfie asked me desperately, too lazy to sit up. "Is there like a lock, or a key, or some sort of indentation that we'll find that has some sort of..."

Alfie paused for a long time; he was silent for so long that I actually called his name and turned over to see if he wasn't dead. His eyes were wide as he stared at the stars, obviously coming to some sort of conclusion that I had no knowledge to.

"The locket," he told me intensely, finally bolting up out of his spot on the concrete, grabbing me by my shoulders and shaking me firecely. "The locket! The locket! _The locket_! _THE LOCKET_!"

"The locket!" I repeated back to him in false excitement, confused as to why he was so excited over a locket. "What's so good about the locket? And what locket are you talking about?"

"The locket!" He repeated, the answer to a question I never asked. He laughed manically, pushing himself off the ground and paced around, laughing his head off as he held his head with his hands. "The locket! How could I have been so stupid? How could _Fabian_ have been so stupid?"

"Alfie, calm down!" I finally caught Alfie by his shoulders and held him in place, looking him in the eye to tell him to come back to Earth. "What locket are you blubbering about? Is it important and where can we find it? And what does Fabian have to do with this?"

"NINA'S LOCKET!" Alfie finally spat, so loud that Patricia and Eddie probably could have heard it if they were at the edge of the woods. A confused expression crossed my face, but luckily Alfie continued to explain before I could question why he thought so. "Nina's locket! Oh my gosh, I was so stupid. It opened the bread oven down to the cellar...why did I not think it could open to door to Shadowland? All we need to do now is go and find Fabian!" He laughed happily; he looked so giddy I was surprised he didn't jump up and down in delight.

"Fabian has it?" I asked him, and he nodded, but before we could run to the house in front of us to tell Fabian we might have found a way out of here but definitely a way in, the door which we had been inspecting previously opened up, and our History/Drama teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald, the woman who had locked us in here in the first place walked through the doorway.

"Hello, children," she hissed, but she had a welcoming feel to her voice, like she was an old grandmother inviting you to her house for cookies. Unfortunately, there was something in her hand that I couldn't see; something silver, and something with a sharp point. It was being held so tightly in her hand that it was drawing blood. "I don't think that you'll be going anywhere."

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>  
><strong>Shadowland<strong>

"What is it?" Jerome asked Amber curiously, his bright blue eyes shining in the dull lights of the house we were in. "Amber, what's wrong?"

"Um..." her voice was so small, so quiet, I was surprised I could even hear it considering where I was standing. "I think I may have just found an old friend."

Jerome and I shared a confused look before slowly approaching Amber, who was holding her hands behind her back as she stared around the corner. My heart pounded in my ears as we walked closer, and I was expecting the worse; I really, truly hoped that Amber didn't mean who I hoped she meant, because if she meant a newer friend than I was expecting—

I almost cried in relief when I saw that the person chained up was a middle-aged man, and not an American teenage girl. I was frightened for a moment, because Patricia hadn't come back from her expedition with Eddie, and the possibility of my best friend being in this house all along had become more and more real; that was, until I recognized the face of the middle-aged man chained up to the wall.

"Who is that?" Jerome's voice was almost mad when he saw the same thing I did: Nina's previous kidnapper (Should I call him the kidnapper, when it was really Eddie in his worst form all along?), Paul, had his hands and feet chained up to the wall at the end of the hall, his wrists and ankles bleeding and bruised.

"It doesn't matter right now," I assured Jerome, knowing I had to approach Paul on my own as Amber was slowly backing away, looking like she wanted to sob into someone's — probably Alfie's — chest. I took a deep breath and jogged to Paul, unconscious on the floor, hoping to everything good and holy that he wasn't a bad person underneath Eddie's worst taking him over.

"Paul?" I yelled, shaking his body awake. He stirred, which was reassuring to me that he wasn't dead or killed, but he was like Rufus after Patricia had kidnapped him from the hospital; completely out of it, looking like he just wanted to go back to sleep. "Paul, are you okay? What happened to you? Did a woman with blonde hair do this to you?"

It felt strange talking to someone who had done horrible things to Nina and my other friends; the only thing that kept me from punching him was the fact that he wasn't _really_ Nina's kidnapper.

If I was to punch anyone, I'd have to punch Eddie. _He_ was the one that robbed the house, and it was _him_ in his worst form that took over Jason Winkler's body and forced him to go after Nina on her walk home after staying after school on the afternoon on October 17th. Paul was a different human being. If I knew Eddie wouldn't really commit the crime on purpose — after sharing a bedroom with him for almost a month, I knew that he wasn't a bad person at heart — and that kept me edging Paul on until he came around fully, and his bright ice-cold blue eyes met with my paler ones.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, helping him lean against the wall. He nodded, but was obviously in a lot of pain; I didn't know how to remove the chains that held him to the wall, so I yelled out, "JEROME, COME HERE!"; I ignored Paul's confused look as Jerome came around with Amber at his heel, hiding her face in Jerome's robe as he came closer.

"What do you need me to do, Rutter?" he asked me through his teeth, evidently just as scared as Amber was, even though he was expected to be braver. I told Jerome to heal Paul, who was leaning against the wall groaning in pain; he fought for a moment, telling me that it would take him a lot of energy to heal Paul as he had many injuries, but I talked him into it anyway.

"Who did this to you?" I caught Paul's gaze once he came around, and his eyes had a little more life inside of them. Jerome was leaning against the wall, trying to collect his breath from the exhaustion of healing. "Do you now, Paul?"

He nodded slowly, and my eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. I pretty much already knew what he was going to say, but I still felt like punching a wall (Or, more specifically, Eddie himself), when he said, "A blonde woman. She had blue eyes, a long nose...very pretty...she was carrying a textbook. I didn't see what it was about. Ugh, this is very uncomfortable." He said, moving his arms and legs around with the chains.

Eddie's spirit had moved from Paul to Ms. Fitzgerald. I wasn't sure why, and I wasn't sure how, but all I cared about was getting that stupid spirit back inside Eddie where it belonged. "Why are you here? I recognize your face...you look very familiar."

"I'm Nina's friend," I told Paul, hesitating on the word_ friend_. I wasn't sure I could say _girlfriend_ anymore, now that she broke up with me all those weeks ago, but she was definitely more than a friend. She always was. However, Paul nodded in understanding. It was weird to see him like this, chained up to the wall, when he should have been chaining Nina up to the wall. He wasn't as dangerous without Eddie's Worst guiding him anymore. "Do you know where she is?"

"Yes, actually," he answered slowly, turning away from us as he caressed his wrists and ankles where the chains were attached. "She said something about...about the woods...and that Eddie boy that comes in here day to day."

"Do you think she's with him?" I asked him, glancing to my side. Jerome's blond hair was sticking up like a cat's, and I could Amber muttering something that sounded like "And I'm sorry for thinking Alfie was dumb and couldn't do anything but pull pranks and get bad grades because I _know_ he's braver than me and all of us..."

"Possibly," Paul muttered, answering my question, exhaling slowly but with a large volume. I told myself not to feel bad for him; I reminded myself that this was the man who had caused the remaining residents at Anubis House endless pain and he was the person who kidnapped my best friend, my girlfriend, and who forced her to break up with me.

But something was also there that kept telling me that Eddie was behind all of this. He was the person that had taken over Paul's body, when Paul probably didn't want any of this to happen to him. He probably didn't want to be chained to the wall, when he could be out, having the time of his life.

"They're very close," he stated simply, like we didn't know that already. He stared to the ceiling, almost like he wanted to see the stars. "And she'd be with him if he had a choice. Eddie doesn't want her to leave Shadowland, though, at all. He says it's too dangerous," Paul began to mutter, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall.

"Dangerous?" Jerome questioned, trying to persuade Amber silently to come out from her hiding spot that was, essentially, Jerome's back left shoulder. "How so? What's dangerous?"

"Death..." Paul murmured, sending a shock through my body like I had stuck my finger into an electrical outlet. I wasn't about to let anyone die, and that included Paul; so as he was drifting in and out, I ordered Jerome to heal him, and he reluctantly obliged once again.

By the time Jerome healed him again, both men were so tired they passed out (Jerome from the exhaustion of healing, and Paul from his many injuries).

"What does Paul mean by 'death'?" Amber questioned, a look of complete and utter helplessness on her face. Amber was smart in her own way; she wasn't the smart_est_ in Sibuna, compared to me or Mara, but she most definitely had her moments.

The thing about Amber, though, is that she's vulnerable, naïve, and always goes with her first instinct. She lets her passions get in the way of required work for school/Sibuna. I barely remember Amber being involved while we finished up the search for the Cup of Ankh last year, because she was all caught up in the prom business.

"I don't want Nina to die," Amber continued, confirming what I thought about her being terrified. If Paul thought that death was dangerous, and that Eddie didn't want her to leave _because_ it was too dangerous... "I mean, after all this work, if she just dies, then I'm finding a way to join her. I didn't go through all that insomnia and fighting for nothing, you know. And once I make it to the afterlife, I will find her, and I will kill her."

I wanted to tell Amber that you couldn't kill someone who was already in the afterlife, but I laughed lightly, wishing my spirits were able to be picked up. However, Jerome, always the most fun at our parties, rained on our parade once again by contributing with: "It might mean Eddie. He was _born_ to protect Nina, so he might _die_ in order to protect her. If that what it takes to get out of here, well..."

"I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO DIE!" Amber screamed out suddenly, waving her hands with her words. "No. One. Is. Going. To. Die. You hear me? We're all graduating together. We're all going to get our diplomas. One way or another, we're all going to get out of this 'dream' business, and we're going to make it through next year, too. We are ALL making it out of high school alive. I don't care what Paul says."

"Amber," Jerome disciplined lightly, careful not to hurt her or her feelings. "I'm sorry but, for Nina and Eddie, death may be the only way out of here."

"Death?" I questioned, my forehead wrinkling in confusion. Amber looked like she was just about ready to break down, but before she could, Jerome spoke again.

"Yeah," he began to explain, "think about it. If we need the elixir to get out of here...don't you remember what happened down in the cellar when Rufus thought he drank the real one?"

"No," I responded to Jerome's theory immediately, refusing to believe it was true. It couldn't be.

Jerome spared me a pitiful look, but before I could deny any further and Amber could cry anymore tears, a voice from outside the house cried, "NINA'S LOCKET!"

"Alfie," Jerome spoke immediately, somehow knowing that it was his best friend who had screamed. I didn't know why Alfie was screaming for Nina's locket, because I had it in my pocket right now, but Jerome looked terrified for his friend; however, his eyes were unwavering.

"Alfie?!" Amber wondered incredulously, seeming stricken. I didn't blame her.

"We have to go," Jerome told me fiercely. I would have gone even if he wasn't giving me a look that said If you even dare to not let me help my friend, I will personally beat you with a sledgehammer and feed your eyes to a cat.

Amber still looked shaken up from the "death" possibility that Amber had spoken of, so I gripped her hand, told Jerome to run, and we sprinted out of the house, leaving its secrets hidden deep within it.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>"ALFIE!" Amber screeched; when she saw her boyfriend standing in front of the doorway out of here, I tightened my grip on her hand so she couldn't go anywhere.<p>

Kathleen Fitzgerald was standing in front of us.

None of us made a sound; Ms. Fitzgerald was smirking, but she wasn't her normal self. Eddie's Worst, who we had previously named the Man in Red, had moved from Paul's body to Kathleen's. I wasn't sure how long he'd stay in there, or if he'd ever go back to the actual, living, breathing, Eddie Miller who was residing with us, but I hoped so.

"Come now, children," Ms. Fitzgerald purred, her red-painted nails pointing to us, beckoning us to her. "It's time to go to detention."

"But it's Saturday," Alfie defended, very calmly, but his hands (being held behind his back by himself) were shaking almost uncontrollably.

"No matter," Kathleen said softly, smiling slightly. "I have business to take care of, anyway. You children can spend the day in my classroom. And, the girls..."

As soon as she said that, Patricia sauntered out of the woods, arguing about something with Eddie. I remembered she went in there t find Eddie in the first place; I had this tiny hope deep inside that she would have Nina trailing along behind her, just so I could see her again even if she couldn't come along with us, but only one American followed her out. My chest sank twelve stories.

"No! I'm telling you this—" I had no idea what she was arguing about, but she looked mad enough that steam could have came out of her ears. "She won't come with you! She barely knows you!"

"No, she doesn't!" Eddie fought back, his tone less menacing than Patricia's.

"Oh, come off it!" Patricia continued to argue, unaware of who was in front of her. "I'm an open book!"

"Are you, Patricia? Are you _really_?"

"Yes, I am, and I don't understand why she won't—..." It was then that Patricia turned her head and noticed the woman standing in front of her. A concerned expression replaced her angry one, and Eddie's arm seemed to go around her instinctively. I wondered if he was thinking she was Nina, but as soon as his arm landed around her shoulders, Patricia brushed it off.

"The girls can come with me," Kathleen sneered, making Amber cringe away in fear. "I locked you all in here to stop you from messing with my plans, but it's obvious you're using this time to your advantage, and that's something I cannot afford. So therefore, even though the boys are the ones who deserve the detention, I can't just leave the girls in here, can I?"

We were all silent, but as the wind blew Ms. Fitzgerald's blonde hair in front of her face, her eyes were unwavering, piercing us with their gaze. "Ms. Williamson and Mr. Miller, you can also follow me out."

"Where are we going?" Eddie questioned, stepping ahead of Patricia, his strides quicker and thinner. I supposed he knew what he was doing, since he was dealing with himself, after all.

"To the school," Kathleen repeated impateitnyly. "Come now, or I will drag you there _by your ears_. Shadowland is a very dangerous place, if you haven't noticed, and I don't need _mindless teenagers_ destroying it!"

_That_ frightened us; when she called for us to follow her out, we all did as told. I had always known Shadowland was dangerous, but the idea of destroying it? Never once occurred to me. Could it actually be done?

As we filtered out through the door, I demanded to be the last one out. I got one last glance at the place where Nina had been trapped for the past month and a half; could it be destroyed? And if it could, would it come with a price? Paul had just warned us of death being the only way out of here? Could blowing Shadowland up possibly the way...

"Come on, Fabian," Alfie's voice, not scared, but not quite courageous either, spoke to me as I lingered behind. "You don't want her to hurt you, do you? Come on, we need to go _now_."

And I agreed, because I didn't want to be in here anymore than he did. I got one last glance of the prison around me before I turned on my heel to leave, but before I did so, I could have sworn I saw a figure walk out of the woods, one with light-brown hair and the same outfit I had met her in.

None of us said a word as Fitzgerald walked ahead of us, corralling all of us to the school. I didn't dare step out of line; we weren't just dealing with our History teacher anymore. We were dealing with Eddie's Worst, the Man in Red, the man who kidnapped Nina all the way back on October 17th, 2011. If he had the balls to kill Mr. Winkler, to possess an innocent man's body and now someone we knew personally, I had no doubts he would go to any length to torture us if we stepped out of line.

When we reached the school, Alfie had this look on his face he wore every morning; the same _I'd-rather-be-pulling-pranks_ look I saw at the breakfast table each day as he straightened his tie out. I wasn't sure what Fitzgerald was going to do with us if she was taking us into the school, nor did I know what was being held for us in there.

"Scoot," she finally ordered Jerome inside her classroom, once we stepped through the main doors and into the actual school. It was overly quiet on a Saturday; I always thought Mr. Sweet would be in here, sorting through his paperwork or trying to drink a cup of tea, but alas, no one was in the headmaster's office, and no one was in Mrs. Fitzgerald's classroom, either, so the seven of us (Amber, Alfie, Mara, Eddie, Patricia, Jerome, and myself) were all alone.

"You are to stay in here," Fitzgerald commanded us, pointing her red finger to each face before screaming, "ALL DAY UNTIL I COME BACK!" and slamming the door in our face.

Silence, the click of the lock echoing in our ears.

I was already planning a route out of here when Alfie asked, "So are we like the Breakfast Club?"

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Saturday, November 26th, 2011 - Fabian R.<strong>  
>I'm writing this on a spare piece of paper I found in Ms. Fitzgerald's desk, so I'll copy it into the Dream Log once we get back to Anubis House.<br>So, the short version of everything that happened since Friday:  
>Ms. Fitzgerald had good reason to give me and the other boys detention; we were late to her first class because we were in the lab, and she caught us trying to go back to the lab in her second class. However, after I had a dream the following night, I woke Sibuna up and we went to Shadowland, because I had a feeling something was wrong. Then Ms. Fitzgerald LOCKED US INTO Shadowland, because Eddie's spiritsoul/whatever had inherited her body. So now she's our main enemy and we're locked in her classroom on a weekend; the clock tells me it's 4:09 AM. Fun.  
>I'm also writing this down so we don't forget it: Alfie and Mara think that Nina's locket is the key to getting into Shadowland; we can apparently DESTROY it, and Paul said that DEATH was the only way out of there for both Nina and Eddie.<br>I don't know what any of that means for sure, but I'm too involved now to turn back._

_._

We all decided, after Ms. Fitzgerald left us in the classroom to rot, that we'd try to find a way out. I didn't know how long we'd be in there, and if I had to stay in a classroom with Jerome and Alfie for hours upon hours, only God knows what I would do.

I demanded everyone get up and start searching for a key and/or an escape route, because there could possibly be one or even extra information on our search at hand. Kathleen Fitzgerald must have known something to get herself into this mess; I doubted Eddie's worst wouldn't have taken her over if she didn't have knowledge he wanted.

"No key," Mara announced, her breath short after we had spent a long time looking for a way out, her windbreaker blowing around with her movements. Her voice was panicked as she exclaimed, "There's no key! How are we going to get out of here?!"

I remembered the day Nina taught me how to pick a lock. It was during the week Alfie was first being introduced to Sibuna, and she wanted to get some time alone with me. When we headed up to the attic to get some time alone, I requested for her to teach me how to pick the lock with a bobby pin, because I figured our endeavor with Anubis House wouldn't end anytime soon.

I never once imagined we'd weave ourselves into the mess that was our current situation.

"Relax," I reassured the always-paranoid Mara, walking away from my desk and to Amber's; while everyone else was up and moving, looking for a way out, Amber was lying with her head down on the desk, trying to catch up on her beauty sleep. I plucked the pin out of her blonde hair, waking her up in the process.

As she groggily woke back up, I walked to the front of the classroom, inserted the bobby pin into the lock, and crouched down to view inside the keyhole. It took me a few minutes, and I had to yell at Alfie to stop breathing on my neck a few times, but eventually the door swung open into the school hallway. That was our way out.

"Whoa," Alfie breathed, evidently impressed. The only person that didn't look impressed was Amber, and that was because she had just woken up.

"I told you," I said happily, smiling at the six other people in the room. "There is always a way out for those who are clever enough to find it."

"Yeah, yeah, Rutter," Jerome muttered, moving over from the back of the classroom, where he was searching with Patricia and Eddie. "_I_ can crack open a safe. We all have talents. Now, come on. Let's go."

I ushered everyone out and waited until the classroom was empty to leave myself.

"Okay, so we got out of _there_," Patricia pointed to the door that used to have Mr. Winkler's name on it. "But do you suggest we do next? We can't exactly go back to Anubis House, now can we?"

"No," Alfie explained for me, "we can't. But what we can do...is go back to the, uh, SLAB, and, uh, research the...SLIXIR."

"The what?" Patricia questioned, somehow not able to see through Alfie's oh-so-secret code. I wanted to face palm at how dumb he was being at this current moment.

"The elixir!" Amber blurted out suddenly, more honest than I would have preferred, throwing her hands around with her words.

"The elixir?!" Patricia stated the obvious, her eyes huge, the look of hatred in them clear.

"Yup," I answered slowly, scared to meet Patricia's death glare. Despite what Amber said, we weren't being sexist; it just so happened that the females in Anubis House wouldn't be much held in the lab the other day. Amber wouldn't know what she was doing, Patricia would just continue to rant about the fact that she was the only one who hasn't gotten a dream, Joy would be unwilling to join us in the first place, and Mara? She might have helped, but she had been seeming distant lately.

"Alright," I pointed to Mr. Sweet's lab,which was in the other hall. "Mara, Jerome, and Alfie, go to the lab and see if you can find out anything new on his computer or in the mixtures or something. Anything would be good, considering..."

Alfie nodded solemnly even though I didn't say anything that would suggest anything bad was going on. "Patricia, Eddie, I need you two to go into Mr. Sweet's office and find anything new."

"And why do you think my dad is in on it?" Eddie's snapped. Soon after, he realized his tone of voice, and apologized. "Sorry. It's just...I don't particularly trust my dad either."

"All the more reason to search his office, then," I said. "Okay. Amber and I will go to the lounge...Ever since Nina went missing, I've had a strange feeling whenever we've met in there. I don't know why. It seems...familiar, somehow, but also distant. Like an old friend that I've only seen once, or something. I'll check it out."

Patricia glared at Eddie as she and him walked to his dad's office, watching him pick the lock just as easily as I had picked the classroom one. Jerome, Mara, and Alfie ran to the lab happily, as they were all friends and could all get along swimmingly. Amber, however, gripped my arm with her Wolverine claws so hard I was sure she would draw blood. I placed my hand on the small of her back, guiding her into the student lounge, to find this old friend and figure out why he was so familiar.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>

_"Okay, listen up guys!"_

Even though that day was long gone, I could almost hear Amber's voice on the stage, in her stunning blue gown for the prom, silencing us all as she began the most important part of the prom.

_"It's time to choose our prom king and queen. We haven't actually had a chance to vote so, I get to choose!"_

Amber now, in reality, didn't even see me stop in my tracks. It was like I was hallucinating, but I knew they weren't there; I could imagine Amber on the stage, the thrones sitting behind her, the king and queen crowns resting on them. I didn't even care about what I was looking for anymore; I was so overcome by the moment when it happened that I never stopped to think how good I felt. And now I could, even though it wasn't really there.

_"And without further ado," the fake-Amber announced, looking like she could have bounced up and down in delight if she could have, "our prom king is Fabian Rutter."_

I still remembered feeling shocked; I didn't really register that Amber had chosen the prom king at that moment. I thought about how anyone would even consider voting for me; I was insecure, a book nerd, couldn't speak up for myself; I couldn't even ask the girl I had been crushing on for seven months to prom. I was so nervous about asking her that I practically asked Patricia instead.

I remember feeling a rush of gratitude, even though no one except Amber had voted for me. Nina pushed me up, proud that I would be able to reign as a king for once. Even though I was beyond nervous as I placed the crown on my head, I felt happy as well.

_"And, our prom queen..." Amber continued to announce on stage. The hallucination continued, and I could see myself on stage with the crown on my head, and Amber's smile as she continued, "is Nina Martin."_

It didn't quite sink in until Nina sat next to me in the other throne and placed _her_ crown on her head that my prom queen was the woman I had harbored such strong feelings for since I placed my robe around her in the secret panel up in the attic, before shit got real. And it registered within me that she was _my_ prom queen.

_Amber muttered, "Would it have killed you to brush your hair?" into Nina's ear, and she smiled at the ground before Amber said, "Now dance, you too," she told the fake Fabian and fake Nina. I watched as we tried to deny our dance, stumbling over words, but Amber exclaimed, "DANCE!"_

_I got up slowly, facing Nina, who was smiling brightly. Her green eyes were more noticeable with the black mascara around them, making them look prettier than normal. She put her arms around my shoulders, and I placed mine comfortably around her waist._

_"Well, _that_ was embarrassing," Nina spoke for the first time, laughing and staring at me. _

_"Yeah, very," I agreed with her, smiling all the same. I scanned her over; she was wearing a nice black and purple dress that cropped at the thighs, and her black heels made her a little taller than me, but not by much. "Nina, you look—"_

_"Ridiculous," she interrupted._

_"I was going to say beautiful," I said shyly, my blush almost as strong as hers; that was, until she smiled and blushed so loudly it could wake the entire town. __She smiled giddily. "So, do you want to tell me what happened?"_

_"Did you just call me beautiful?" she asked me, in complete awe that I had told her such a thing._

_"Yeah," I blushed, almost as strong as hers. Nina's fingers curled in excitement; she looked like Amber in the sense that she was going to jump up and down in happiness. I was glad that I had been the one to make her feel such joy, the feeling like she could done anything. And that was just what she did. "So, why did you go back down to the cellar?"_

_"All that can wait," she told me, smiling. If I had known what she was going to do... "This can't."_

_And she leaned in, and for one reason or another I knew exactly what she was going to do. I pursed my lips and pressed them to hers, nothing inappropriate as we both knew we were in front of hundreds of people. As my lips were crushed against hers, I heard whoops and shouts from the crowds; I pulled away to see Amber smiling brightly, dancing around as if to say: "I KNEW it!"_

_I leaned my forehead against Nina's, ready to take on whatever Anubis House threw at us next._

_._

"Fabian?" The Amber Millington from present day, the one standing right next to me, waved her hand in front of my face in an attempt to try to wake me up from my daze. "Fabian? Are you okay?"

"What?" I asked her, shaking my head to bring my entire mind back down to Earth, in the student lounge where both Amber and I were.

"You dozed off," Amber told me gently, her gray eyes full of concern. That surprised me, because usually all Amber was concerned about was David Beckham and doing her makeup in the morning and trying to stop Alfie from pulling his next prank on her. Now, she looked honestly troubled. "Are you okay? You kept staring at the stage, and I couldn't get any sentences out of you."

"The stage," I repeated, turning my head to meet Amber's gaze. I was grinning like a maniac, though Amber didn't seem to catch my hint. "Of course! Why did I not think about it sooner?"

"What?" Amber questioned, now troubled in the sense that she had no idea what I was talking about. I ran up to the stage, prying up the floorboards with my fingers; I could almost feel the callouses on my knuckles as I tore up one of the boards on the stage, setting it to the side.

"I know where the Cup is," I told her, my smile tiny for the huge amount of joy that was residing inside me. "It's here. Under the stage. All along! It's been under our noses the entire time!"

With Amber's forehead still crinkled in confusion, I lifted the object we had spent an entire school year trying to find out from under the stage.

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>AN: So hopefully you guys are putting the pieces together in your head; get it? Death? Cup of Ankh? Season one finale?!**

**Haha January 18th, 2014: The latest Amber stayed up in a year. Oh, you guys should totally read Wish I'd Never Grown Up by likestarlight, because the author is a cool person and made me happy today by watching Titanic and letting me rant to her because I was in a Titanic mood today. I'll probably watch it right after I publish this...**

**Also, I'm thinking of publishing a new Anubis fic; it's a Crime/Mystery fic, involving murder and character deaths. Would you guys read that? I know the fandom is dying out and there aren't nearly as many people reading HoA fanfiction anymore, but I'd love it if you guys read that as well.**

**And, also, WE'RE THREE REVIEWS AWAY FROM 400. PLEASE OH PRETTY PLEASE CAN WE GET TO 400? THAT WOULD HONESTLY MAKE MY LIFE, OHMYGOD.**

**-Lia**


	48. Empty Pillow Talk

**A/N: I ONLY MISSED ONE WEEK THIS TIME! *throws confetti***

**I like to pretend that the first 20 chapters of this story don't exist, so when my friend dared me to reread this entire story, I can honestly say it was not a pleasant experience. Honestly, though, I've been working on this story for so long, I just can't wait for it to be over. It's been around forever and Don't Be Afraid's been a part of me for over two years now, but still...it'll feel nice to let it go. To know that I finished it when I should have finished it back in 2012.**

**Now it's 1:21 AM on February 2nd, and I just finished the first disc of Titanic (because honestly what else do i do with my day); I do hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope you have a lovely day~**

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>Fabian<strong>  
><strong>Sunday, November 27th 2011: 7:30 AM<strong>

Breakfast the morning after Fitzgerald had come back into school, letting us go back to Anubis House after another few hours or so of sitting inside the classroom, was the same as always. Trudy made extra slivers of bacon for Jerome and Alfie. She prepared Patricia's special cereal, Shreddies. Amber's pancakes were prepared exactly as she liked them, and Eddie had a breakfast hoagie as normal.

"So, did anyone have a dream last night?" I asked the group sitting around the table. Now that everyone was involved with the search at hand (whether or not they wanted to be a part of Sibuna was a different story), I could be open around all of them.

"No," Eddie shrugged, ripping off a piece of his breakfast hoagie with his teeth. "I never have any dreams. She doesn't send me any, since I go there every night..."

I nodded; why would Nina send Eddie a dream, when he visits her every single night? That would be unnecessary. I went around the rest of the table, pointing to Amber, Alfie, Mara, Jerome, Mick, and Joy, who all answered with 'no' and head shakes to tell me they hadn't gotten a dream.

The only person left was Patricia, but when I pointed to her, she just scoffed and said scornfully, "Very funny."

"So I guess none of us got dreams last night," I said for all of us, sitting back down in my seat. Eddie had taken Nina's old seat at the head of the table, so I was still in my old one, to the right of it. "Okay...that's strange. I would have thought, after being locked in Shadowland with her yesterday...that she'd want to talk to us, but I guess not."

"It was probably a long night," Eddie told me, probably in reassurance, but I could see something in his eyes that I didn't possess: knowledge. He knew something about this situation that I didn't, and I wasn't pleased with that. I knew Nina had broken up with me, but the only dream I had gotten since then was MIR's dream to me with the situation as she had never been taken to Shadowland when she was kidnapped, and instead just brought to an old shed where she actually dead when we received the call on the landline five days after she was originally taken.

"She'll give someone a dream tonight, I can promise you that," Eddie reassured me again, but I wasn't feeling so confident. I had MIR's dream and the weak excuse for a dream I had before I coaxed everyone out of their beds and into Shadowland, so I wasn't sure I'd get an 'old-fashioned' dream anytime soon.

"Anyway..." I drifted off, biting into my apple and getting pieces of the red skin stuck in my teeth. "What did you guys find, when I sent you off to do your business? I know I corralled us all back into Fitzgerald's classroom after I found the Cup, so none of you really had a chance to express what you found..."

At first, all of us were silent. Eddie played with his hoagie on the plate, unwilling to stuff it into his mouth, and Patricia began to fidget with her fingers, just like she always did when she was nervous.

"Eddie? Patricia?" I asked quietly, turning my attention from the rest of the group onto them. Yesterday, in detention, before I went with Amber to the student lounge, I sent Mara, Jerome, and Alfie to the lab and Eddie and Patricia to Mr. Sweet's office. I figured his son, of all people, could find something worthwhile to our search at hand. "Do you have something you want to tell us?"

"Not really, no," Eddie admitted, in an even quieter tone than I had asked him in. "I mean...I...we...we found something, but it's not..it's not important."

"Anything is important," I tried to persuade him, since in all honesty it was true. "We've been at this quest for over a month now, Eddie. All I want in the world is to get Nina's ass back to Anubis House and finish this once and for all."

"Well, I..." I began to suspect something was wrong when he began to move a slice of ham around with his plate with his fork. Even though at first Eddie was working against us instead of with us, he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. "It's kind of a funny story, you see, because when Patricia and I went into the office—"

"It's hard to explain," Patricia spoke, her British accent dripping in comparison to Eddie's thick American one. He told me once, on a sleepless night a few weeks ago, that he was from New Jersey, but the strange thing was I had no idea what state Nina was from and she was my best friend last year. "Look...we'll write it down on a slip of paper or something later. Just turn to Mara and the others who went to the lab first, okay?"

I nodded slowly, still confused. To my surprise, Eddie turned around and started conversing about something with Patricia, something I never would have imagined if I had not sent them together on the quest to Mr. Sweet's office. Still wondering what they could have found that was so confusing and/or terrifying that they couldn't share it with us, I turned to Mara, Alfie, and Jerome. "Did you find anything on the elixir?"

They all nodded at once, even though Jerome seemed a bit excluded from the two Seekers. "Yeah," Mara nodded grimly — not as grim as Eddie had sounded, but sure as hell still grim — "We kind of put two and two together and...well, with the knowledge that we need the elixir, and with you finally finding the Cup of Ankh...well...Alfie told me what happened in the cellar last year."

"There has to be another way," I said quickly, almost immediately after Mara had finished her statement. "Okay? We can't afford to lose anyone to death. Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe the elixir has some other special power to relieve curses or something, but we. Are. Not. Leaving. This. Curse. Behind. With. Anyone. Dead. Do you understand me?"

All three of them nodded, but I knew they were thinking of the worst possible situation.

"So none of us had dreams last night," I repeated, sitting down in my chair again and leaning back against the head. "Okay. We have nowhere to go from here..."

"Where did you put the Cup?" Amber asked quietly, though since no one else was talking, everyone could hear her. I didn't see the damage in telling anyone; they were all involved now. Even though some may not have fully understood what happened last year, they understood it.

"In the attic," I responded without meeting Amber's, or anyone else's, gaze. "But we don't know what to do with it. I know we figured out we have to use the elixir somehow - the Cup is in the attic _with_ the elixir right now - but we don't know who to give it to, or, what's gonna happen with it. We could probably figure it out if we had a dream, but..." I rolled my eyes, and Mick, who was sitting right beside me, slapped my arm rather hard. I didn't know why he was acting that way, but I didn't particularly care, either.

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><p><strong>v v v<strong>

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><p><strong>Monday, November 28th 2011 - 7:30 AM<strong>

The next day, I woke up and thought back.

We stayed home on Sunday. Eddie and Patricia were secretive, but I still couldn't weasel out of them what they had found in Mr. Sweet's office when I sent them in there yesterday.

The rest of the day was a bore; I played a few games of Tic-Tac-Toe with Amber, but soon enough she grew bored of it and moved over to Patricia to discuss their business as partners. Mara and I played a game where we each had to write one number of Pi, and the other person had to write the next number and saw how high we could get before one of us forget a number.

I remembered Sunday night clearly; I didn't get a dream on Saturday night, so I was preparing for one tonight. Trudy made grilled chicken for supper, and luckily (for once) Jerome and Alfie didn't start a food fight this time. After supper, Amber suggested a game of Truth or Dare, but after a loud chorus of "NO" echoed around the House, we all settled for a game of Would You Rather instead.

It started off innocent enough, but when Mick had the balls to ask "Would you rather send dreams to your friends every night to get you out of an alternated dimension, or die on the spot without any warning?" that questions started to get intense.

I zoned everyone out. I was thinking about the elixir and Cup of Ankh up in the attic, how easily accessible it was to Victor or anyone else since there wasn't a padlock on the attic door anymore and no one could get into the secret panel because 1) Victor destroyed it and 2) Nina wasn't here to work the damn locket to open it.

Mick and Eddie were in the bathroom with me as we brushed our teeth was the night drew to a close, but as soon as Victor boomed "IT IS TEN O'CLOCK! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY, AND THEN I WANT TO HEAR A PIN...DROP", Eddie spit his toothpaste into the sink and bolted. I didn't know where and I didn't know why, but I was concerned with getting my teeth properly cleaned.

Eddie wasn't in the bedroom, either, so Mick and I exchanged "good nights" before I fell asleep.

Now it was the morning on Monday, and I still didn't receive a dream. I asked everyone if they had gotten a dream at the breakfast table again, but everyone said they hadn't gotten one.

Now, that was a bit weird. I didn't get the dreams all the time nowadays, but no one was getting the dreams now. Patricia and Eddie were out of the question (since Eddie was the Osirian and could actually get into Shadowland while we couldn't and Patricia was...well...illegible), but Mick, Mara, Amber, Alfie, Jerome, Joy, and I didn't get a dream, and that was confusing to me.

Nina liked sending the dreams. She wanted to leave that place almost as much as the rest of us wanted to finish this. I know she only sent the dreams when she had useful information to tell us, but I also knew she just liked seeing our faces, as well, and now none of us were getting a dream at all.

I didn't speak to anyone on the way to school, but everyone else did. I walked beside Amber, since she was probably the closest to me since Nina went missing, but she was in a lengthy and opinionated conversation with him involving something along the lines of The Hunger Games. It amused me to see them arguing over a book series.

The rest of the day was a blur; we had our first class with Mrs. Andrews in English, and we'd have French later in the day. She started off the lesson with a simple subject, such as characterization in classic literature or the use of dialogue to reveal something about a character. The next class was Science with Mr. Sweet, and after that, Drama with Mrs. Fitzgerald, the woman who had locked us in Shadowland only a day before.

We were on edge all throughout Drama class in the student lounge, but all I could think about was how I found the Cup of Ankh underneath the stage two days ago. I zoned Mrs. Fitzgerald out in the entire class, thinking things through about getting Nina out of Shadowland, therefore letting me concentrate on the lesson, once we had gotten her back where she belonged.

I was expecting her to target a specific student that had been in Shadowland/detention with her two days ago, but she seemed nice enough. Definitely not cruel enough to be the MIR I had grown to know, the MIR that had tortured us on Halloween and put us through hell and back.

Now, she smiled at Alfie when he (purposely) got a question wrong. She told Eddie it was no big deal he and Patricia tried to sneak out of class again (with me still not knowing what they had found in Mr. Sweet's classroom), and didn't demand Amber to put her magazine away when I told her to read it in front of our teacher's face.

I thought that maybe Eddie's Worst had abandoned her, like he had abandoned Paul. I didn't know what body he was in now, if he was back in Paul or someone else or possibly even in Eddie himself where he had originated, but he certainly wasn't in Kathleen Fitzgerald. I didn't know she was up and about while Paul looked exhausted to the point of collapsing, but she radiated sunshine and rainbows and everything nice today.

Sibuna walked out of Drama class flabbergasted. We walked to our next class, French, with shocked looks still on our faces. Mrs. Andrews was herself, nothing different, giving pop quizzes every Thursday and seeing Mick shocked, since he never seemed to catch on with that.

After French class was Maths with Mr. Sweet. I didn't learn anything new, but Amber (who was sitting next to me), copied off my paper every minute when she didn't understand a word of what the teacher was saying. I didn't mind, but it got a little annoying when all I felt for a constant five minutes was Amber's breath in my ear.

The last class of the day was History with Mrs. Fitzgerald. And I could honestly say that it was the class I was least looking forward to.

It was the class that I lost Nina in, because Mr. Winkler asked her to stay after school. I didn't know what I'd be stepping into, so I let Nina go without giving a second thought. If I had only stayed behind, maybe waited outside the door or something, I could have been with her as she walked home, and I doubt Mr. Winkler would've tried to kidnap her if someone else had been walking home with her.

It was a class I had always been interested in, but it was where it all began. My life would so much simpler, easier, and happier if I had just stayed behind on October 17th.

It was the last class of the day, and my favorite subject, but all I wanted in the world was to go back to the House and eat some of Trudy's cookies.

Amber, who had been feeling very attached to me lately for one reason or another, sat down right next to me in the middle table in the front row. I didn't ask her why, but since I was as close to Amber as I was to Nina, I didn't protest her movement.

Mrs. Fitzgerald came in right on time. She greeted the class with a warm hello, and the class monotonously repeated it back to her. While she was setting up her lesson for the day, Amber slipped me a folded note.

While she wasn't looking, I unfolded the note and saw Amber's pink pen that she had been using every single day since September. It read: _What are we planning to do with the Cup of Ankh again?_

I didn't respond. I didn't respond because even I didn't know what to do with the Cup of Ankh myself, but I might have if Nina had sent me a dream over the course of the last day or two.

I waited another fifteen minutes or so, taking notes on Mrs. Fitzgerald's lesson on Russia when Amber tapped my thigh, grabbing my attention. While the teacher was facing the board, Amber ever so slowly placed another folded piece of paper into my open palm.

I opened it, and this time it read: _Do you think Mrs. Fitzgerald is still Eddie's Worst? She doesn't seem very cruel today..._

I knew the answer to this one, so I wrote one word in big, red, bold letters: **NO.**

I think Amber got the gist of my message when she scowled at me two seconds after I gave her the paper back.

It was true. Mrs. Fitzgerald was a nice woman when she wasn't betraying us, and I don't think she'd lock us in the alternate dimension where our first American student was trapped unless she was under the influence of the kidnappee's protector's Worst.

Therefore, I managed to get through the hour of History class we had with Mrs. Fitzgerald without a scratch on my grades or my body. As I gathered up my things, I saw Eddie and Patricia walk out of the classroom, muttering something to each other; rather suspicious, if I had to say. Those two wouldn't speak to each other willingly unless they were forced to (as I had forced them), or they had found information to mutter over (as they evidently had). I wanted to know what they were talking about so secretly, but if Eddie felt the need to keep the information to himself...

I sighed as I stuffed my binder into my rucksack, bending some loose leaf papers sitting uselessly around. Amber waited on me, tapping her heel on the tiled floor, but I told her to go on ahead and that I'd meet her at the House in a minute.

I slung the rucksack's strap over my shoulder and began to walk out the door when a voice called, "Fabian."

I could literally feel the fear coursing through my veins once I heard my name. I turned on my heel slowly, holding in my breath, when I saw Mrs. Fitzgerald standing in front of me, her brown eyes warm and inviting instead of the cold, menacing look she had to them when she locked us in Shadowland only two days ago. Eddie's Worst/MIR definitely wasn't in her anymore.

"Yes?" I asked her calmly, but at the same time I was internally screaming _PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO STAY AFTER SCHOOL TO DISCUSS MY GRADES_, _PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO STAY AFTER SCHOOL TO DISCUSS MY GRADES_, _PLEASE DON'T ASK ME TO STAY AFTER SCHOOL TO DISCUSS MY GRADES_.

"I just want to apologize," she told me quietly, somehow embarrassed enough to avoid my gaze, staring the floor beneath her feet. _I_ was usually the one to avoid people's gaze, since I hated eye contact, but teachers were the one type of people I could meet eyes with; and now Mrs. Fitzgerald was avoiding my eyes. "Really...I am truly, sincerely sorry. For what I did on Saturday and...for what...for what I did to...for what you'll learn in the future.

"What do you mean?" I asked her curiously, blinking in the dim florescent lights of the classroom. "I accept your apology for Saturday, but...what do you mean about the future?"

"I guess you'll just have to find out," she muttered quietly, but loud enough for me to hear where I was standing, two yards away from her. Kathleen Fitzgerald swallowed her saliva down her throat, met my eyes for only a second, before gently and comfortingly placing her hand on my shoulder, saying "Goodbye, Fabian. Study for the test tomorrow and...take care. Please."

Mrs. Fitzgerald walked out first, leaving the classroom door open without looking back.

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><p><strong>v v v<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday, November 29th 2011 - 7:30 AM<strong>

Routine continued.

I didn't tell anyone about my encounter with the teacher who had locked us in Shadowland and in the school when I got home, and no one who lived in Anubis House was in the classroom with me when that happened, so no one pestered me about it, thankfully.

It was a Monday night, so Mara locked herself in her room with Patricia and Joy to help them study for the test the next day, even though Joy wanted to do other things. Trudy forced Jerome and Alfie to help her with supper, setting the table, and cleaning up the table for punishment because of the food fight the day before.

I tried to write in the Dream Log, but there was nothing to write. I already wrote about the elixir, but I didn't know anything more than we needed it. I already wrote about the Cup of Ankh, but I didn't know what we were supposed to do with it. No one was getting a dream, so they couldn't write in it, either. I couldn't go down to the cellar, because Nina wasn't there to work the locket, and Victor had been spending a suspicious amount of time down there lately.

I could've gone up to the attic, because Nina had taught me how to pick a lock, but there was no reason to. Besides, if anyone caught me, they'd just beg to go up there with me while I wanted to use it as a zen retreat.

Therefore, nothing exciting happened on Monday. It sort of felt like before Mr. Sweet called Joy to his office, before Patricia saw the new American girl in Joy's bed, and before she sent her up to the attic because she was pissed that her best friend was missing.

I fell asleep after Victor gave his famous pin drop speech, praying to everything good and holy that I would get a dream. Eddie was in our bedroom that night, unlike the night before; he knew more than I did about this whole Dream spiel, so I probably could have asked him why none of us were getting a dream from Nina, but he was basically asleep as soon as he rolled over on his side.

I was awake for the next few minutes, which might not have been such a wise idea, considering the fact that I was one of the people who desperately wanted a dream. I tossed and turned, exchanged blankets, thought about new songs I could learn to play on the guitar and what it would feel like once we finished this entire quest. I finally decided to close my eyes and try for sleep when my phone vibrated on my mattress.

It continued to vibrate. It vibrated so often that I was convinced someone was trying to call me, but it only vibrated once in a row, which was the signal for a text message. I finally opened all the messages to see that, surprise surprise, they were all from Amber.

**Fabian, there's a noise coming from the attic.** was Amber's first text message. The other ones basically read the same exact thing, but they were in all capital letters and screaming at me to wake up or she'd cry.

**Relax, Amber. It's probably just mice.** I assured her, but I couldn't be so sure. I turned over on my side, hoping she'd read the text message and sleep soundly, but another message came in soon after so I groaned, ripped the sheets off of my body, and leaned back against my pillow.

**How can you be so sure? What if someone is up there?** I could almost hear Amber's screechy, panicked voice in my head. I responded again, but didn't close my eyes for I knew that Amber would try to text me again.

I told her,** You know that if there was an intruder, Victor would rip them to shreds.**

**What if the noise in the attic IS Victor?** came Amber's other panicked response.

I had never thought of it that way. I felt something stirring in my chest, but I didn't know what it was or how to place it. **So what? He's the housekeeper. He's the only one that's SUPPOSED to be going up there in the first place.**

I sat, facing the wall on one side of my bed. We had a theory for Victor being up there, and even though it might have not been true, that unsettled feeling was back. **Fabian! You're being stupid! Don't you remember what we stored up in the attic?!**

And then I realized. **...shit**

**Yes, shit! What if he finds the Cup AND the elixir?** I didn't even bother to wait thirty seconds to respond this time. I had never once thought that Victor might have been involved; lately, he had been locking himself in his study, only coming down to give his pin drop speech and then going back inside and doing his thing.

**...I mean, I hid the Cup behind some boxes? Maybe he won't see it? And besides maybe it isn't even Victor in the first place. Maybe it's just mice. Go look for yourself.** While I didn't wait to respond, it took me a few minutes to correct any spelling mistakes because my fingers were trembling, both from cold and fear. If Victor found the Cup and Elixir, it was the end for Sibuna. We wouldn't be able to finish the quest at hand.

**Come with me then Fabian because if you don't I'll pee my pants. WHAT IF I GET EATEN BY A GHOST?**

I laughed weakly at Amber's comment, but I only responded back with **Just wait until the morning. Then we'll check, and if the Cup and Elixir is gone, we'll know Victor was up there. But if the Cup is still there, then either he didn't find it or it was only rodents. It'll be okay.**

Amber didn't respond. Either she had gathered up the courage to look for herself, or she had fallen asleep. I hoped for the second option, and I didn't hear any screeching from upstairs, so I was pretty sure Amber had fallen asleep. And soon after, so did I.

When I woke up the next morning, on Tuesday, I didn't even give a thought to the fact that I didn't have a dream. I bolted out of bed, still in my pajamas, and checked the attic; luckily, both the Cup and the elixir were still tucked away safely, behind some boxes. I didn't know what the sound was that Amber heard, but both of our crucial items were still in our possession.

"So, did...did anyone get a dream, or?" I asked the audience, the eight other people in Anubis House who were left, "Anyone? Do we have ANY new information?"

"No," chorused the group, some voices loud and others soft, sad. Patricia looked pleased, since everyone else was experiencing what it was like to not have a dream for once.

"Patricia?" I caught her attention at once, and I asked her, "Have you been having the dreams this entire time, and just didn't tell us?"

"Fabian," she responded smoothly, "if I had gotten a dream, trust me, you'd know."

"True," I breathed, looking away, stuffing my face with the cereal Trudy had prepared for us. I glanced at one of my two roommates, the one with blond hair and a secret to keep. "So, Eddie...do you feel like telling me what you found in Mr. Sweet's office yet, or no?"

"Not really, no," Eddie responded quickly, like he had been preparing for that question. "That information is secretive."

"Alright," I murmured quietly, though I was secretly plotting a way to get the information out of him one way or another. He had to have written it down or something, or told Patricia or his dad, or something. The information couldn't have just been stored inside his memory; then again, if Rose could keep the story of her soul mate bottled up for 84 years, I guess Eddie could keep presumed important information away from me. "So, um...do you know how Nina's doing?"

"What?" Eddie questioned, evidently not prepared for this questions. His eyes were the size of tennis balls for only a moment, but they shrunk back to normal size once he was realized what the question was. "Oh...yeah, she's fine. Perfectly fine. Why wouldn't she be fine? Perfectly. Fine."

I still didn't understand it. I wanted to get Eddie alone to ask him questions, but he stayed by himself on the walk to school. I walked myself this time, too, thinking about everything; there was still no new information to get off of, since Eddie wouldn't tell me what was going on with Nina or what he found in his father's office, if the information was even important.

The rest of the day was the same. English with Mrs. Andrews first, we discussed Shakespeare plays. Science with Mr. Sweet second, we discussed proteins and lipids. Drama with Mrs. Fitzgerald third, we discussed putting _on_ a Shakespeare play that we discussed in English. After was French with Mrs. Andrews and we practiced our vocabulary, like always. Then was Maths with Mr. Sweet, which was nothing new, only review for an exam. We actually _took_ an exam in our next class, History with Mrs. Fitzgerald, the wretched History class that Mr. Winkler once taught.

The test was simple enough. It didn't help me in any way, though, since it didn't tell me why Eddie was so reluctant to admit what he found in the office.

We left school afterwards since History was our last class of the day. I made plans to study for the test in Maths, but I had more important things on my mind.

Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the day. Trudy monitored supper, since Jerome and Alfie made such a mess with the food fight the other day that they actually broke a vase, so I couldn't discuss the dreams since Trudy was in the kitchen, eyeing Jerome and Alfie with a suspicious gaze.

However, conversation resumed. Eddie and Patricia were passing notes underneath the table, and I was so tempted to just reach under and grab the napkin they were passing back and forth, to read it and found out the secret they were keeping from me.

Amber wanted to go into town the next weekend, but Trudy said that they couldn't; apparently, the teachers had some important investigation going on within the school grounds, so no one could leave the premises. Alfie and Mara looked like they were judging everyone at the table, while Jerome wrote down from, what I could see, ingredients.

I didn't know what they were for, but it only reminded me of one thing; Victor's horrid elixir recipe that he had been itching to find for so many years, only to be thwarted by a sixteen-year-old boy who, previously, Victor considered someone who would never get in his path. I guessed he should blame it all on Nina...or Patricia. If Patricia didn't get so angry with Nina for taking Joy's place, she would have never made her go into the attic on initiation. And if Nina had never gone into the attic, she wouldn't have seen the portrait of Sarah, that lead us to the first clue: the eighth stair.

Everything was so complicated after that; even I couldn't remember what happened within the search. I could remember the beginning, since I was reluctant to admit to myself what was going on; when we found the key under the eighth stair, I didn't think it would open anything until Nina dragged me up to the attic during Mick and Amber's getting-back-together party and we opened the trunk that had the voice recordings of little Sarah in the 1920's and the clue that had the inscription of "When Daytime Ends at Midday, Through Tears of Glass the Eye Shall See" but we didn't find out that it said that until Sibuna was officially formed.

Everything went so quick, so fast after that. I remember Perspective Parenting day when Nina and I helped Trudy with baking, and reinstalling the old chandelier as to find the tube-clue, but I don't remember what the paper said that was inside it.

I remember hospitalizing Alfie after we gave him a concoction we found in the cellar, and Nina quitting Sibuna. I remember breaking the hand off of the clock (because I was internally screaming _OH MY GOD WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS I JUST BROKE THE CLOCK_), and hiding under the stairs, only to whisper Nina's name to get her attention; it was funny to me because she stopped and the look on her face said: _Am I hearing voices again?_

I remember Sarah's death, but only because Nina was so sad and I couldn't do anything to help her. I remember finding out the Chosen Hour, and trying to ask Nina to prom after she said she liked the little frown I got when I concentrated. I remember falling growing the balls to ask her out, only to be thwarted by Rufus Zeno and his poisonous flies. I remember thinking I can't let Rufus take Nina away from me because I'll never see her again as he grabbed her arm to take her to cellar, only to tackle him because that was the only way I could think of get Nina out of his grip.

But this search, the one we had at hand? It was all a mess to me.

I remembered the day Nina went missing, back on October 17th. The entire House was silent during supper, until Jerome threw the first food and got Alfie going, as well. I remember the first dream, and talking with Sibuna the day after, because someone picked up Nina's phone when we called it; no one knew who it was, but I recognized it as Mr. Winker's voice, somehow.

I remembered the call we got saying that the police had found Nina's body, but only because Amber was collapsed on the floor, sobbing. I remembered Halloween, and the torment Eddie's Worst put us through, even though it was actually still Mr. Winkler at the time.

I remembered Eddie's first day, and the realization that Joy would be the girl that would come back to the school. I remembered finding out the true meaning of the locket's glow, the difference between life and death. I remembered the day Mara was kidnapped; Jerome was awake, tossing and turning, all night. Amber didn't want to sleep in her room, because two people who had shared Nina's bed were now gone, stolen the same exact way: off the side of the road.

I remembered how Nina broke up with me, even though I still didn't know why. And it all went so fast after that: finding out about the Cup, the elixir, life and death being the way out of Shadowland, where Shadowland actually was, and now, Mrs. Fitzgerald locking us in the warehouse, detention, and not getting a dream for the past few days.

Supper ended. I basically studied for the rest of the night, even though I basically knew the lesson Mr. Sweet had been teaching us for the past few weeks. I knew it like the back of my hand, or like how Amber knew David Beckham.

Even so, the Dream Log was sitting in my rucksack, unused. I might have been able to write something in it if I had gotten a dream over the course of the past few days, or if Eddie wanted to tell me what he found in Mr. Sweet's office with Patricia, but it remained empty. The last entry someone wrote was by Alfie, on November 21st.

"IT IS TEN O'CLOCK!" Boomed an all-too-familiar voice after I spent a countless amount of minutes going back and forth between my textbooks and the Dream Log. "YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES PRECISELY...AND THEN I WANT TO HEAR A PIN...DROP."

I scurried to my room as soon as possible. I didn't bother to brush my teeth; I figured one day without brushing them wouldn't do me any harm, as I usually brush them every morning and evening. I waited for Mick and Eddie to return to the bedroom, and they were chatting about something; usually, I wouldn't care about someone else's conversation, but when I heard Mick mutter rather loudly "No way, Mara wouldn't last five minutes if she was the one kidnapped in the first place."

"What are you talking about?" I asked them, sitting up and crossing my legs, but the comforter still resting on my thighs. Evidently, they were talking about the search at hand; I didn't know what to call it really. Last year I could have said was the search for the Cup of Ankh, but now...what were we searching for?

"We were just talking about what would happen if other people were kidnapped instead of Nina back in October," Mick joked; Eddie was grinning, but he looked a little off-color to me, somehow. "Eddie here was saying that Mara would last as long, if not longer, if she was taken in the first place."

"Because she would!" Eddie defended, in his overly-distinguishable voice. "I don't know what you're smoking, Mick. You dated the damn girl! And besides, you know more about her than I do...but you obviously don't know how strong she is."

"Yeah, but would she able to send the dreams if Paul did to her what he was doing to Nina?" Mick asked aloud, glancing from Eddie, to me, and back to Eddie. Eddie's bed was positioned in a weird way, near the door but the legs of the bed outstretched in front of it. Mick's bed was where it always was, since Victor had provided an extra one for Eddie when he had moved in back on the first day of November. "What do you think, Fabian? How long would Mara last? You're both nerds."

I held up my hands in surrender; while Mara and I were similar in the way we both liked achieving good grades, I barely talked to her, surprisingly. I remembered Nina telling me, back when she actually gave me the dreams, of the day Mara was _actually_ kidnapped by Paul, and Eddie was there with her. He saw her in Shadowland, while I didn't.

"I don't know either," Eddie shrugged, turning away for a moment. In that moment, he gathered up some of his blankets, burying himself beneath the sheets as he asked the both of us, "What about Amber, huh? How long do you think she'd last?"

I answered, "A day."

But Mick answered, "An hour."

The game continued. After probably about another hour of talking about it (We spent a good thirty minutes on the subject of Patricia being kidnapped), we concluded that Amber would last twelve hours; Alfie would last a few days; Jerome would only last a few weeks since he'd only send the dreams to Alfie and we all know how smart at deducing Alfie is; Mara would last a few days, like Alfie, considering how paranoid of everything she is; I, myself (Fabian Rutter) would last a few weeks because I didn't have anyone to guide me through it; Eddie would last just as long as Nina had, and Mick would last a few days because of how little food he would be given. We finally drew the conclusion that Patricia would last the longest out of all of us; even longer than Nina has lasted. Patricia was more known to hold her emotions in, compared to Nina.

We bid each other good night soon after we finished our half-hour conversation on Patricia Williamson. However, I waited until I heard Mick's low, soft snore, and Eddie's nose slightly whistling since he couldn't breathe through his mouth at night. I was still awake in the dead silence of the night; I doubted even Jerome and Alfie were up, and they were known to stay up till 1 in the morning, only to be uber-tired at breakfast the following morning.

I laid on my back, facing the wall with my four guitars. I knew I should have wanted to fall asleep, with the possibility of having a dream, but something was keeping me awake.

"Nina?" I murmured into the night, as if she could hear me, but she was in Shadowland and I was still in Anubis House. It was almost like I was waiting for her to respond, like she was lying in bed right next to me. But when I turned over, the pillow was empty, except for my head.

"I know you probably can't hear this...well, scratch that, you definitely can't hear this, but I need to talk to you and I haven't done that since November 8th; to give a good comparison, it's November 30th at midnight right now. It's now the last day of November and you haven't talked to me in 12 days...I miss you."

There was no response, but I didn't know what I was expecting. I hadn't gotten a real, proper dream, where Nina actually sent it to me and gave me information, instead of a weird Day Dream, or a dream where Paul actually sent the dream, or some sort of message-dream where I figured out that Nina was back in Shadowland, only to get trapped in there later and not find her.

"Look...okay, first of all, Patricia's really pissed. I know you're probably scared to send her a dream or something, because of the whole Joy shenanigan in the beginning of last year, but you're friends now, right? So like, if you can hear this...send Patricia a dream as a response, or something. Because if you don't I have no doubt in my mind that Patricia's head will explode.

"But, anyway...it's been different without you. You're not there to guide me anymore...and that's something I always liked that you did. You knew what you were doing half the time, even if you didn't understand it. You might have been bossy, commanding, and rude, but...you had good qualities to you, too. I believe that not everyone is all bad...even horrible people have their good qualities. I mean, Justin Bieber is a weird case. I mean, he may be a bad person at times, but...yeah, I don't know where I'm going with this."

I sighed. I knew it was useless; I was basically talking to myself, but I didn't care. I needed somebody to talk to right now, and no one would understand, even if the person I wanted to talk about was miles away, locked in some alternate dimension.

"Like I said...you were always there last year to lead us. You started this all, basically, even though we kind of owe Sibuna to Patricia...but you guided us when we needed it most. You showed Amber that she wasn't as dumb as people told her she was. You showed Alfie that he wasn't just pranks and bad grades. Patricia's indifferent because she's Patricia and no one can really change that, but me...you pushed me. Not over the edge, but in a good way. I could barely speak up for myself before you came. Everyone always assumed that because I barely ever talked to someone other than Patricia and Joy, that I was cold and cruel. When Jerome picked on me and told me I'd be nothing more than a geek, you told me that I was the smartest one in Sibuna. When I told you I was just a pushover, you told me I was more than that. I was kind, sweet, which I don't see myself, but if you guys see it...

"And now you're gone and you can't tell me those things. I know it's been over a month now...it'll be two months in a little less than three weeks. But you guided me and I don't think I would have been able to finish the quest alone if I was the one who found Sarah's portrait or something. I know if I found it, I wouldn't have asked anyone to help me. I would have done it all by myself.

"I don't know if you would've voluntarily invited Amber into Sibuna if she hadn't nosed her way into it herself, but then she got herself involved...then when you went missing, she was irrationally mad for a little while. I could kind of understand...she was mad that her best friend had just gone missing with no explanation. I have no doubt in my mind that if some other girl had taken your place as soon as you went missing, it would just be the beginning of last year all over again. Can you imagine Amber getting in the girl's face and screaming "You are not my roommate! Nina is! Now where is she?" Because I don't know...I'd just find that funny.

"Anyway...I can understand why Amber got mad at you. But you have to understand; it's hard on us too. Our days are spent dreading the nights, in fear of the dream we may or may not have. I know you can't warn us beforehand, but it's still scary because you don't know what you'll learn, you don't know what will happen, and the morning after is full of worry and confusion.

"So just, hear me out, and let us finish this. I understand it takes you a while, and while I may not understand the pain you go through..."

I cringed into my pillow; it pained me to think about it. Nina practically changed my life; if someone else had taken Joy's place, someone who wasn't the Chosen One, someone who wouldn't have discovered Sarah's portrait (as the non-Chosen One wouldn't have been able to open the secret panel), I would have been kind to her as Patricia would probably still be a bitch, but the search for the Cup of Ankh wouldn't have happened.

And now, because of my carelessness, because I hadn't stayed behind and waited for her after school, we were going through this nightmare. Nina was probably experiencing pain that she'd never talk about with me, and I didn't know that I'd feel whole unless I knew every detail about her every day there, but I couldn't do that if she didn't send us a dream.

I continued, "I may not experience, know, or understand the pain you go through, but you have to understand, we _want_ to get you out of there. We're sick of the sleepless nights. We're sick of the confusion from the information you tell us, we're sick of the tormenting from Eddie's Worst, or who could be known as MIR...we're sick of everything. We want to finish this, we want you back. _I_ want you back.

"Eddie told me once that you're reluctant to send the dreams because you think we're going to call you selfish. Well, hear me out; you're not selfish. You care about yourself, but that's a good thing. That's a really good thing. If you didn't care about yourself, you woudln't be sending the dreams to us right now. You wouldn't have begun to send them in the first place.

"And I'm so thankful you did, Nina. I'm thankful. I care about you — _we_ care about you — and it's too late to turn back now. You've been sending the dreams for over a month, now. You can't just decided to give up now, or to decided to be selfish.

You're selfish, maybe, but...you are in a good way. You're benefiting us. Maybe Patricia would yell at you if we finally got you out of there, but that's a different story; I mean, I'd think about you every single night if you just stopped sending the dreams out of the blue. There wouldn't be a night I'd go without thinking of you and those dumb dreams you sent us to help us get you out of there. It's too late to turn back now, Nina, so please, just...don't do it. Don't let go. Keep sending the dreams.

"We _will_ get you out of there; just give us time. We'll figure all the clues out, we'll figure out how to get into Shadowland, and most importantly, how to get you out so we can just go back to normal and forget any of this ever happened. Jerome and Alfie will start food fights again, Amber will ask you what to wear each morning, Mara can resume her studies at the breakfast table because Patricia and Joy keep her up all night, and most of all, you can be here without any interruption. No teacher will kidnap Joy because they think she's the Chosen One, and...well, you can be with me.

"The thing is, though...I don't know how I feel about you. I'm only sixteen. It's true that I've never really felt this way before, about anyone else, but I don't know if I should say that I'm in love with you or not, because I dont know if it's true myself. I'm so young, and I have my whole life ahead of me. For all I know...I could find someone else within the next few days that I'll fall in love with, or something. I have _no_ idea.

"So, for now...send us a dream, yeah? If you send me a dream...then we can talk about that whole 'love' thing...you changed my life for the better and I'll always be grateful for that. But...if you can hear us, if you had actually listened that entire time, send one of us a dream. Send Patricia a dream for a change, huh? Make her happy for a little while."

I sighed, turning over and facing the other wall. Winter was approaching; it was now Wednesday, November 30th; the last day of November. Tomorrow was December, and the weather was getting colder by the minute. My body was barely warm enough underneath all the blankets.

"Good night," I muttered, even though our nights had been less than good recently.

I breathed out, and fell asleep.

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>AN: The next chapter name for this story is "I Found Her at a Christmas Tree Farm". I'm leaving the interpretation of that title up to you.**

**Still on House of Greed in my rewatch. Hopefully I'll make some progress this afternoon...and write because I need to do that but I am a lazy arse. Also, I have over 100 people following this; over 100 people are getting this update on their email. I'm getting a little insecure about this story, so if anyone still likes it, could you take 20 seconds out of your day to write a simple sentence such as "Great chapter! I liked it!" Or even "Bad chapter! I did not like it!" If you didn't. I work hard on these chapters and I got NO reviews on Lost & Found yesterday, so that was VERY disappointing. This story has been around since forever, so maybe you could make a 14-year-old girl's day a bit brighter by reviewing her dumb story she began when she was 12?!**

**Haha, though...this story is very exhausting. May 18th looks too far away.  
>-Lia<strong>


	49. I Found My Love at a Christmas Tree Farm

**A/N: WOW I'M GREAT AT UPDATING. I just finished this now, and the end "cliffhanger" (I wouldn't really call it a cliffhanger) will extend into the next chapter. **

**The feeling of...almost being at 50 chapters feels weird. I swear, it feels like yesterday that I was writing chapter 4 at 6th period lunch in 7th grade. Now I'm almost on chapter 50, and we have 15 chapters to go, since it's officially ending at 64 chapters, maybe even less than that.**

**So now I guess we go on and try to write. I do hope you enjoy the chapter, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend! (or week since I'm the worst upater on the planet)**

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>Patricia<strong>  
><strong>Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 8:45 PM<strong>

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

Fabian nodded his head slowly, realizing that I had just spoken. "Yeah. Yeah, it does suck. It sucks real bad."

"Now you know how I must feel," I told him, pulling my legs up onto the couch and sitting cross-legged. "Watching everyone else get a dream while I have no idea what's going on, much less a clue as to what everyone is talking about. And to think I called her that one time, when I found Rufus comatose in the hospital! I could've called Amber, or you, for that matter, but no, I called Nina! And now she has the nerve to not send me a dream."

Fabian laughed weakly, but shook his head after my words. "No, Patricia, you have to understand...this is different. No one is getting a dream now, and I'm getting seriously worried. I don't know if she's okay or not, since Eddie won't tell me, even though he's been to Shadowland in the past week." He groaned, rolled his eyes, and leaned back on the leather couch seat.

Wednesday had flown by; breakfast wasn't different than any other day. We asked around if anyone had a dream, and when they said no, we resumed eating our bacon. School was the same, no creepy teachers locking us in other dimensions or in the classroom, and now we were home after school.

"Fabian, you have to understand that..." I began, but blinked when I couldn't think of anything else. Usually, I was so good with comebacks, but not today apparently. "What if — what if Joy was the one who went missing again, yeah? What if she was taken off the side of the side of the road and was forced to send dreams to us?"

Fabian was obviously not getting the memo when he shook his head in confusion.

I groaned, straightening my posture even though Fabian and I were the only ones in the common room. Mara and Joy were up studying in our room, Amber was putting makeup on for her date with Alfie, and _Alfie_ was in his room, also getting ready for their date out on the town. Jerome was probably out stealing dresses or something, and Mick was out to the side of the house, kicking around a football with no one but himself.

"So image Joy was the one to go missing," I continued quickly, "and three days into her disappearance, _I_ get a dream in which she is giving me clues as to where she is and how to get her out. I continue to get these dreams, and so do everyone else, even Alfie, who Joy wasn't close with. But you don't get a dream, no matter how close you were with her before she disappeared in the first place, back in September 2010, before the Cup of Ankh fiasco started. How would _you_ feel?"

Fabian contemplated his answer for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, only to open it again, and finally closed it the final time. I had finally made him understand; he would feel left out if everyone was getting a dream but him, if Joy was the one giving them. "You don't understand, Patricia," he muttered, blinking slowly.

I may have been a bitch to Nina in her first few weeks, but that was only because there were no clues as to where Joy had gone, and I couldn't imagine life without my best friend who had been there through thick and thin. I was just being protective of my friend, even if it meant locking the new girl in the attic.

Now we were friends; maybe not _best_ friends, but still friends, at least. I think Nina had spoken to Mick and a total of _two_ times in her entire first year here, yet he had gotten a dream and I hadn't. I couldn't help thinking I did something wrong, said something to offend someone, or think that it was the "YOU KILLED JOY" thing that was telling Nina not to send dreams to me.

I had no idea, and now Fabian was sitting with his legs crossed as well, staring at the wall blankly. Maybe I didn't understand how he felt; he had been the one to get the dreams most frequently, and now no one — not even him — was getting them. He must be the one feeling left out, now, because he had grown so accustomed to getting them, he couldn't imagine how it must feel to _not_ get them.

I asked him, and he answered with, "It feels awful. It feels like I can't do anything to help anyone anymore. I just want to know if she's okay," Fabian muttered, staring at the floor, and I fixed him with a look of sympathy even though he couldn't see my face. "And I also want to know what you and Eddie found in Mr. Sweet's office, but..."

I groaned once again, rolling my eyes and staring at the ceiling. "I told you, I can't tell you. Eddie won't let me tell you."

"Is it really that important?" Fabian's gaze moved from the floor to my face, and I could read through him like a book. "What's so important that you can't tell _me_, of all people?"

I didn't answer him. Even I didn't fully trust Eddie, but I was with him when we discovered the thing in Mr. Sweet's desk drawer. I didn't know _why_ he had that, nor did I know why he knew those things, but I didn't question it. Eddie told me to write it down, and so I did before we sprinted out of his office and into the hallway, where we bumped into Jerome, Alfie, and Mara, who were coming back from the lab.

We stood in the hallway for only a few minutes until Amber and Fabian came back with the Cup of Ankh that he found under the stage. I didn't question why, when, or how he found it, but all I knew was we had the thing Sibuna had spent all year searching for, that Nina so cleverly hid it under the stage and never told us why she hid it there. It's not like Mr. Sweet or Victor couldn't find it if they had the nerve to look for it again.

"I just can't tell you, alright?" I finished, picking at my black fingernail. The paint was wearing off, so I'd probably have to recruit Amber or Joy to do my left hand again. "It's top secret information. I'm sure Eddie will tell you soon enough, though..." Even I wasn't sure of that, but anything to get Fabian's spirits up again.

Fabian sighed, reaching inside his rucksack. For a moment, I thought he was going to pull out the Dream Log even though there was nothing new to write in it, but instead Fabian took out a booklet that was, surprise surprise, filled with Sudoku puzzles. I knew Fabian liked to keep his brain active, but now I had no one to talk to since Eddie was off doing who-knows-what. His Osirian business, probably.

So I myself pulled out a large piece of paper, wrote three slashes through it, and scooched over closer to Fabian and held the Noughts and Crosses (or as Americans liked to call it, Tic-Tac-Toe) and held it in front of his face until he noticed, grinned sadly, and brought the paper down to play a few games with me.

Time passed. Victor gave his famous pin-drop speech, like always. Amber and Alfie didn't get back from their date until 11. Fabian didn't say anything to me when he walked down the hall into his bedroom, so I wondered what he was thinking about.

Because Amber kicked Mara out of Nina's bed a few days back, she was back in my room that I shared with Joy, so she was back in the triple. To state the obvious, Mara was pissed, but she understood Amber's reasoning for wanting her room to be alone. Amber shared with Mara for years back before Joy went missing, but they were never truly that close.

Amber had never been that close to anybody but Mick before she warmed up to Nina. I could see it, how she felt at home, because someone was finally guiding her to do the right thing, finally told her that she was smart and wasn't the dumbest one in Anubis House like Jerome sometimes told her she was.

During that year, I felt like I wanted that kind of person in my life; Joy was my best friend and no one could ever replace her, but all we did was judge people together and talk about music, boys, and schoolwork. She didn't guide me or help me like the way Nina guided and helped Amber, and now Nina was gone, so I could understand why Amber wanted the bed to be empty until she returned.

I didn't talk to Mara or Joy when I slid under the blankets, even though they were discussing something I couldn't hear. I didn't even want to know what they were talking about; that was a sign that I was beyond exhausted.

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p><strong>Thursday, December 1st, 2011 - 7:00 AM<strong>

When I woke up, the first thing that registered with me wasn't that it was the first day of December, or that November was over. It wasn't it was a Thursday, or that I had a test in Maths today. It _was_ that I didn't have a dream, like always, and mornings were no different.

At breakfast the following morning, after dragging myself out of bed and telling Joy I really didn't feel like going to school, breakfast almost felt...normal.

Well, as normal as a house that stored the hidden pieces of the Cup of Ankh can get. Fabian was reading a book under the table; Mara was counting something off on her fingers; Mick ate his cereal silently; and Amber stared off into space...it made me wonder what she was thinking about. Jerome was discussing something with Alfie, but their conversation looked heated, as if they were arguing instead of scheming.

Eddie kept tapping his fingers on the side of the table consistently, while Joy was talking about something — I heard the name "Robert Pattinson" one too many times, but I wasn't really listening. Fabian didn't ask if any of us had dreams, which was odd, but at the same time I could almost understand. Things felt too weird.

School felt the same way.

Because of last year, I had learned to never trust the teachers. Even though I knew Sweetie was Eddie's father, it just didn't feel right to trust him.

Also, because of last year, Joy barely knew what the teachers were talking about, so I spent the majority of my classes helping her with the lessons we were being taught.

That continued throughout the rest of the day; Eddie and I snuck glances sometimes, but I stopped doing so when Fabian caught me once. He looked like he wanted to approach me and scream at me until I opened up about what we found in Eddie's father's office, but instead, he sat silently and muttered something incomprehensible.

School ended soon enough and I heard a voice that sounded too much like Alfie scream "TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!" as we filed out of the school. I talked with Joy the entire way home, and she discussed some romcom marathon because we had missed the one she planned on the day she went missing.

When we got home, we did our homework. Supper was mostly silent, except for some small talk and Amber continually asking people to pass the juice.

It wasn't until 8 PM that Amber decided to make a choice. "Why don't we play a game?" She asked the room. After a small controversy about what game to play, she suggested Truth or Dare, and a huge chorus of "NO!" echoed around the House.

"Aw, come on!" Fabian protested, the first time I had heard him speak all day. "It'll be fun, and I promise you won't have to do anything...weird or dangerous. Right, Amber?" His glare, aimed at Amber, was as sharp as a knife. The blonde shook her head feverishly, and even though the group gathered around in a circle in the living room, I knew Fabian was up to something.

I didn't listen to the truths and dares as they came. Most of them were boring, because most of the males in the House chose Dare (except for Fabian, of course) while the females chose Truth. However, I knew when Fabian "randomly" chose me for dare, that secrets would escape.

"Alright, Patricia," Fabian faced me, his pale blue eyes much different from the ones I was used to: kind, sweet, geeky Fabian was now replaced with the temporary cunning, ruthless Fabian, who was trying to get answers out of me. "Truth or Dare."

I decided to take a risk and hope that Fabian wasn't going to do what I thought he was going to do. "Truth."

"What did you find in Mr. Sweet's office when I sent you in there last Sunday?" Fabian wondered, his voice at the loudest volume it could get. His glare, now aimed at me, wasn't sweet or geeky anymore; it was full-on menacing. He was determined to get the secret out of me.

I didn't freeze, as I knew he would ask me this. I took a deep breath and said loudly, "I change my answer," I quickly reconsidered, glancing around at everyone in the circle, all wearing expressions of confusion and shock. "I'll go with Dare."

"Alright, I dare you to tell me what you found in his office!" Fabian announced coldly, as if he had practiced this beforehand (Which he probably had).

I stared at everyone around me, all wearing expressions of discomfort and ultimate confusion. Eddie was glancing at me, unnoticed by anyone else, and I locked eyes with him for a number of seconds. He was just as scared as I was, if not more. He was the subject of the information we found in Mr. Sweet's office, the butt of the "ending" perhaps, and he hadn't discussed it with me since we found it, no matter how hard I tried to pry.

"I refuse to answer that," I defended loudly, glancing at everyone in the circle again. "And none of you can make me answer it, either!"

The group was silent. Fabian's cold glare quickly turned into a desperate one, and for a second, I almost considered telling him; I could tell all he wanted in the world was just to get Nina back and to finish this once and for all. He wanted to be done with the entire search, never to have to give a thought to Shadowland or the dreams ever again. He was done with this already, and I could gather that all from his expression.

The game continued on, anyway. Jerome dared Alfie to kiss a tree, but Mara had to remind him that it was December now and it was too 'cold' to lick a tree. Eddie dared Amber and Alfie to kiss for four minutes without coming up for air, and they did it reluctantly in front of everyone. When they finally faced everyone, we gave them a round of applause, because we know how they were in the start.

It wasn't until I saw, from the corner of my eye, Fabian whispering something in Amber's ear that I knew what was about to happen. And I decided to just give up and go with it. "How about we play a game of seven minutes in heaven?"

We all groaned, but Jerome yelled out, "Oh, come on, people! A little kissing never hurt anyone!"

"Yeah, well, there won't be a lot of kissing involved in this game," Fabian muttered darkly, glanced at me quickly, and got up turn the lights off. I sighed, blew a strand of hair away from my mouth, and leaned back against the couch. I was in for it now.

I didn't protest when a voice called my name and helped me toward a closet, even though I couldn't see who was guiding me. I couldn't hear the next name called, so as I waited, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket for some light in the dark closet I was in. There were coathangers and cobwebs and everything else you would expect to find in a closet.

And, big surprise, when the door opened and another person came in, it was a blond. More specially, a blond-haired boy named Edison whom I shared a little secret with.

"I'm not surprised to see you," I muttered, rolling my eyes and considering cursing Fabian out from inside the closet, because I knew he was the person who had set this up. Eddie agreed with me by shaking his head, and when I said, "But I'm not kissing you, I hope you know that," he responded with: "I couldn't agree with you more."

"What are we going to do?" I asked him incredulously, our phones providing a minimal amount of light for both of us. "We're going to tell Fabian the secret eventually. One way or another, he's going to find out."

"I know," Eddie shook his head again, rolling his hazel eyes. "I can't believe...I can't believe I didn't know. I can't believe my dad didn't tell me."

"Tell you what?" I wondered, trying to see him better in the light. His facial features still annoyed me the slightest bit, but after what we had learned in his dad's office, I couldn't truly be mad. After all... "Tell you that one way or another, you're going to die?"

"Yeah," Eddie agreed sadly, his gaze facing the ground. "I don't...I don't want to die. I didn't come to England to die."

"Well, you came to England to protect Nina, truly," I corrected him, but he shushed me anyway.

"Look, Patricia." Even in the dim light our cell phones provided, I could see his intense gaze resting on mine. He wasn't kidding here, and he needed me to know that. "I know protecting Nina is my duty, and I'll try to stick by that duty until the end, but I'm a person too, you know? I don't want to die if I don't have to."

"But this quest was set up for you to die!" I tried to convince him. I wasn't happy about him dying; who would be happy to hear about death, even about the person you hated? Eddie might have not been my most favorite person in the world, but I didn't want him to die. Too many people would be sad. "Eddie, you're the Osirian. You're Nina's protector. If...if this quest calls for you to die, then you're going to have to die, you know what I mean?"

Eddie was silent for another minute or two, his hand on the door frame. I didn't even have to try to fight it; I knew it was locked, and I knew Fabian was the person who had guided me in here. I couldn't be mad at him...not when I knew he only wanted answers. "That's where I think you're missing the point, Patricia," he muttered silently. "If I die...Nina dies too."

"Your lives aren't tied together," I said solemnly. I knew he was going to die, and Eddie knew he was going to die as well. I couldn't imagine what that would feel like...knowing you're going to die in a matter of weeks. Knowing that your death was just around the corner, and you're going to have to give it up yourself? "Just because you're going to die...Nina doesn't have to die too. You can be the heroic one here and die in her place, maybe? You can let us get her back, and be the hero? I mean...you won't be forgotten if you do."

"We're _BOTH_ going to die, Patricia!" He suddenly exploded, moving his hands off the door frame. At this point, if Fabian wasn't standing outside the door frame listening in, he could hear what Eddie was saying. "I know how and when I'm going to die. I have to summon...MIR...my Worst...back inside of me, and there's this long process about how to do that, and once he's back inside of me...either it kills me on the spot, or I become so bad that it takes over my conscious and suddenly my main objective isn't to protect Nina anymore, it's to destroy her. Either way, one of us — or both of us — is going to die. And that's not a nice thought, is it?"

"No," I agreed, shaking my head. "It isn't. It really isn't."

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<br>****Friday, December 2nd, 2011 - 11:15 AM**

"KT!" I called, seeing her in the hallway suddenly. "KT, wait up! Wait for me! _KT_!"

I had eavesdropped on Patricia and Eddie in the closet last night, and instead of letting them out when I heard that Eddie and Nina were going to die, I went to bed. I couldn't believe it; I couldn't believe that everything we had worked for, all the written pages in the Dream Log, we're going to be for nothing.

Mara had told me that there was always a flaw in the plan somewhere, but right now, it seemed kind of hopeless. Why would we work for anything, why would we try to get her out, when we knew that not only Nina, but Eddie too, was going to die? Why would anyone want to be taken by death, and who would work towards it, even? Why would Nina want to get out of there, only to die?

I fell asleep thinking about that, and in the morning, I realized that it was the sixth night in a row I hadn't gotten a dream. I asked people at the breakfast table if they had received a dream, but in true Anubis fashion, every one of them told me they hadn't.

The sad part was, that Nina could already be dead and I'd have no idea.

KT turned around and faced me, her bag slung around her shoulders. "Fabian?" she asked, evidently confused. She walked towards me as I jogged toward her. "What's wrong? I haven't spoken to you, in like, a week. You questioned me about the dream I had, and then...never spoke to me again."

As soon as I caught up to her, I exhaled loudly and placed my hands on my knees. KT waited until I was finished catching my breath, and I inhaled a large breath before I spoke, "Yeah. I know. And I'm sorry about that, but...that's also why I'm here again right now."

KT rolled her eyes and leaned back against the lockers. I knew I had to be quiet, since the rush of students trying to get to their next class would surely hear _something_ if I wasn't quiet. I almost felt bad when KT muttered to herself, "Of course. Why on earth would you want to talk to me about something else?" but I knew I had to ask her this. Maybe I could make an effort to be friends with her after, anyway.

"Look," I took a final breath in, and leaned against the lockers as well. "You know the dream I asked you about a week ago?"

"That strange dream where a girl told me she knew how to get out?" KT wondered, and I nodded feverishly. "Yeah, why? I something wrong? Did the dream mean something and you just now figured it out?" After speaking the last question out loud, KT got a bit of a spark in her, a bit of curiosity. Unfortunately, I was about to bring those suspicions down.

"Have you had another one?" I asked her quietly, leaning in closer.

"No," KT answered almost immediately, and I could feel my chest drop to the bottom of my chest. No one in Anubis House was getting a dream, and now KT wasn't, too. Maybe someone else in another House was getting a dream, but it would take too long to explain it to every single one of them.

"Great," I muttered, completely to myself, though I may have been a bit louder than I hoped I would be. "Now how am I going to figure out if she's okay?"

"She's?" KT wondered, her voice raised now that the hallway was emptying out. "Are you saying that the girl in the dream was _real_, and she was actually _sending_ it? And not just some...figment of my subconscious?"

The bell rang; KT apologized and rushed to her last class of the week, as it was Friday. I, however, stood alone, leaning against the lockers.

KT was my last hope, the last chance that maybe Nina wasn't dead and she just wasn't sending us dreams for some reason. The last dream I got was on November 8th...it had been almost a month since then, as it was December 2nd now.

What were we going to do? We were destined to finish this quest on Winter Break, but now it was looking like we may not finish it at all. Nina may be dead, and even if she wasn't, both her and Eddie were going to die in the end, anyway.

Was all of this just a joke, played on us by the cruel teachers for the things we did to them last year? Was it revenge for thwarting their chances at immortal life? If so...death seemed a little cruel. Too cruel, even.

And now, I didn't even know how to cheat it.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 - 12:45 PM<strong>

For the entire day of Saturday, I didn't play Tic Tac Toe with Amber like she wanted me to. I didn't want to have an arm wrestle with Mara, because Jerome thought she couldn't beat him, and when she did she challenged the entire House to an arm wrestle. No, for the entire day of Saturday, I wrote possible ways this search could come out to.

Choice 1: Somehow, we'd find the secrets and get both Nina and Eddie out of there alive. MIR/Eddie's Worst would be banished forever, and we could live in peace.

Choice 2: The "prophecy", I guess (I really didn't know what else to call it) would come true, and both Nina and Eddie would die. The dreams wouldn't continue, and life in Anubis House would resume as if Joy never went missing in the first place.

Choice 3: We'd get them out of there alive, but MIR/Eddie's Worst would not be banished, and he'd forever haunt us, and the only way to get him to stop was to give him Nina and Eddie, but they'd still be alive, just not with us.

I hoped for Choice 1, but I knew it might not happen. Based on our luck so far, the odds hadn't been in our favor.

It was later in the day, after I had finished my homework and did everything I needed to do for Monday, that Eddie and Patricia approached me.

"What's up? Is something wrong?" I asked both of them, but knowing that they were willingly standing next to each other was enough proof that something was wrong. "What's happening?"

"_Eddie_ wants to tell you something," Patricia told me quietly, glaring at the boy beside her. Eddie tried to back out and say "No, I really don't want to" but Patricia held him in place and told him that if he didn't tell me, she'd tell me herself.

That straightened him up. Patricia sat next to me in the couch in the common room, surrounded by everyone else in the House that was doing their own thing. Amber was discussing her nails with Mara, and Mara was saying that she wanted to paint her nails a different color again, too. Mick was attempting to do his homework on his own, since I had tried to help him earlier in the day, but he just couldn't seem to get the difference between Chlorophyll and Chloroplasts. Jerome and Alfie were doing their Jerome and Alfie thing, while Patricia and Eddie were about to tell me something that couldn't be good.

"You know how you haven't been getting dreams lately?" Eddie asked me softly, and that sentence was enough to stop my heart for a second. I regained myself almost as soon as I lost myself, so I nodded curtly and listened to what he had to say.

"Well..." he muttered, staring at the leather on the couch we were sitting on. That was when I knew something was truly wrong, like maybe we had failed too early and Nina had died yesterday and he was here to tell me that we couldn't hold a funeral because—

"I can't get in."

"What?" I blurted out, before I could even think about his confession. While Eddie and Patricia were silent, I thought about his sentence thoroughly. He couldn't get in. _He couldn't get in_.

I didn't even have to ask where "in" was. I knew it was Shadowland, because the dreams had been Anubis House's main concern lately, and I didn't want it to be. I wanted it to a normal year, with just me and my girlfriend in the House of Anubis, with no mystery threatening to break us up or tear us apart. I wanted a normal year, for once.

"You can't get in," I repeated back to him, and Eddie shook his head sadly. "You can't get in. Wow, okay. That's...that's news. You really can't get in?"

"Nope," he admitted, blinking slowly, his shoulders sagging like a puppy that had just been yelled at for eating the furniture. "I...I tried a million times within the first few days, but then I just gave up. My...my worst...or Paul, still, told me that I could get in whenever he wanted, because he would always open the door for me whenever he saw me approaching, and shut it as soon as I walked inside."

I sat silently, listening to his story, knowing it would just take a turn for the worst.

"But on Sunday, almost a week ago, when you woke me up and demanded you take me to Shadowland, the door was already open when I first walked in. Usually I have to knock first or something. That's what I found strange first, but then after that day, when Mrs. Fitzgerald took us to detention...I tried to go back that night to check up on Nina, since I couldn't find her when we all were in there. But..I knocked and knocked, but the door wouldn't open.

"I tried everything. I tried prying open the door myself, knocking it down with my shoulder like you see in the movies, and trying every single key I could find. I even stole Victor's master set of keys once, and none of them opened the door. I gave up trying to get in on Tuesday. I'm sorry, Fabian. I don't know why she's not sending you the dreams, and I can't get in to ask her."

That was when I understood why he wouldn't let us try out the locket theory. It was when I understood why he hadn't been telling me anything about Nina or how she was doing, and why I didn't know why she wasn't sending the dreams.

Eddie couldn't get in. He didn't know if she was dead or alive either.

"What are we gonna do?" I wondered, sadness creeping up on me. "How are we gonna get in? How can we finish this?"

"I guess we just wait," Eddie murmured, and I could almost sympathize with him. He found a friend in Nina; he found a home, a place he could go back to and be welcome. Now he couldn't go in, couldn't go in to make sure that Nina was okay or ask why the dreams hadn't been coming in. I didn't know either.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 - 3:30 PM<strong>

Three days later, and still no dream.

On Sunday, Amber begged Trudy to shop for a Christmas tree, because we hadn't gotten one the year before. Because of Eddie's news about not being able to get into Shadowland, I knew she wanted to distract herself from it, because the chance of Nina and Eddie dying was becoming more and more possible as the days went by.

Trudy said no to the Christmas tree invitation, and that was really it for Sunday. On Monday, we had breakfast, school, and supper, Amber begged Trudy to go to the Christmas tree farm again, and our housemother declined it once again. Now it was Tuesday, and Amber wasn't finished with her Christmas tree business.

"But it would look so beautiful!" She argued, following her housemother around the hallway. "I mean, come on. Can you just imagine a Christmas tree...right there, to the left of the couches? Wouldn't it look beautiful? Right, guys? Wouldn't it look beautiful?"

All of chorused "Oh, yes", but I figured most of us were doing it just to shut Amber up. However, Alfie got up off the coach, strut over to his girlfriend, and stood by her argument with "I say we go out and get a Christmas tree? Is anyone with me?" When Trudy wasn't looking, and when no one in the House responded to him, he placed his hand over his eye and repeated, "Well?!"

Sibuna hardly had anything to do with this, but we all grudgingly said we'd go after Trudy gave in to temptation. So now we were all on our way to the Christmas tree farm, knowing that since Victor wasn't coming with us, either Mick or Jerome had to be the one to chop it down since they were the two strongest people in the House.

The ride there was silent, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, an uproar omitted from everyone in Trudy's van. I stayed behind, next to Amber, and waited for Trudy to finish unpacking the trunk but she waved us ahead, and we filed into the crowd of eight Anubis students; ironically, the eight original Anubis students.

Eddie couldn't come with us, as he had some sort of issue with his dad. He stayed behind, after school, but soon called and said that everything was resolved and father and son would be getting take-out for dinner, instead of him coming home. Nina was...well, wherever she was, and since Eddie was with his dad, it was the original Anubis students before Joy went missing and Nina walked through the door of Anubis House on September 22nd, 2010.

"Why do you think Nina hasn't been sending us dreams?" Amber wondered, not staring at the trees as we passed them by, once we had paid the man in the booth. "Do you think...do you think it's because of me?"

"No!" I assured her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No, Amber, it's not you, so don't think it is. I don't even know why she isn't sending any of us dreams...it's causing me great grief. I just want to know if she's okay or not, and I can't find out because Eddie can't get in. It's worthless."

Amber nodded, but looked a little bit awkward after I said that, turning away from me and running ahead to her boyfriend in front. I knew none of us understood why Eddie couldn't get in; Eddie _himself_ wouldn't tell us, either. We were left to wonder what happened to make his Worst lock him out, and what happened to the girl he was supposed to protect. She could be dead, for all we knew.

I drifted off while we walked along the pathway surrounded by Christmas trees. Since Mick and Jerome were the strongest people in the House, Trudy recruited them to shake each tree we liked to see if it was sturdy enough for a House with nine people in it. They would only shake the tree if five out of eight people liked it; I didn't think anyone was really catching on that I wasn't looking at the trees when I said I liked every tree in the garden.

My head wasn't really with everyone else, though they seemed to be really into it. I thought about other things, like Nina, the search, how much homework I'd have to do when we returned to the House as it was a weekday, and the square root of pi. My body was here, but my head was in the clouds.

The sudden lack of dreams was bothering me, as well; if I didn't get a dream, someone else did, at least. I hadn't gotten a proper dream since November 8th, and that was when she broke up with me. Either Amber, Alfie and Jerome (since they got it together), Mara, Mick, and Joy got the dreams, but none of them had received one lately. Patricia, unfortunately, was excluded in this group and no one knew why.

Now no one at all was getting a dream, and I was getting seriously concerned.

Mick and Jerome saw a really good tree up ahead, so them and the other five people sprinted to catch up to them. Even Amber, with her flats in the dirty ground, ran ahead with Alfie, their hand tied together in the wind, dangling after them like a tail.

I stayed put, digging my shoes in the sand. I couldn't go forward, not with no one knowing I was even gone. Everyone had someone they could talk to — Amber had Alfie, Mara had Jerome and Patricia, Patricia had Alfie and Jerome, Jerome had Alfie, so on and so forth — while the only person I wanted to talk to was missing.

So I stayed behind, knowing no one was missing me. I was perfectly fine by myself; before Nina came, Patricia and Joy were good friends, but they always spent their spare time around each other instead of me. I wasn't interested in marathoning romantic comedies or gushing over Robert Pattinson. I spent most of my time alone, ignoring the cheeky comments that Jerome or Alfie made about me.

I liked being by myself. Nina had changed all of that, though; she taught me to embrace my passions, even if it meant going to the library every day and looking up new information about the Cup of Ankh, and now all of that was gone.

Then, something — or someone — crashed into me, knocking me to the ground.

I didn't even remember hitting my head; when I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the clouds in the sky, no hint of the sun in sight. It looked like it might snow, but it was only the 6th day of December, and the UK barely got snow in the Winter. I didn't know who knocked me down, but my butt was in too much pain to let myself push off the dirt just yet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Exclaimed a voice.

A voice I knew. A feminine voice.

A voice that anyone could pick out in the sea of Brits who lived in Liverpool.

An _American_ voice.

"Ugh," the voice continued, the voice I could recognize from a mile away. "Dude, why are so reckless? Actually, no, scratch that. You were just standing there. Why were you just standing there?"

"Relax," A masculine voice interrupted the feminine one, pulling the other figure off the dirt. She got off, and from what I could see down on the ground, she was brushing some of the dirt off of her pants. "It was an accident. He probably didn't mean to bump into you, so don't give him grief about it. Damn."

Now, I couldn't pull myself up, because I didn't just recognize the feminine voice; I recognized the masculine voice as well. There was a girl and a boy in front of me, and I knew both of them...but at the same time, I didn't.

I still didn't believe it when a hand reached down to help me up, and I saw her face.

"Nina?!" I exclaimed, staring at her. I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing; _Nina_ was standing in front of me, with _Eddie_ at her sides, which didn't make sense considering that he was supposed to be solving his daddy issues with Sweetie.

However, Eddie was the least of my concern; Nina, the girl we had been searching for for almost two months now, was standing right in front of me, wearing a long black overcoat in the Autumn weather. She wasn't in Shadowland; she was in front of me and she was breathing and she had come out of there _alive_.

"Hello, stranger," Nina answered, in her casual voice that I hadn't heard in so long; the voice that captivated me at that current moment so much I didn't think of anything else but listening to it. I still couldn't believe it; it was _her_, and she was _real_. She still had her pale green eyes, and her long wavy light brown hair. She still had the mole on her left cheek. Her sentences didn't even hit me; the word _Stranger_ didn't make me realize anything because I was so taken with Nina's presence.

"How..." I fumbled, not knowing how to choose my words properly. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and how flawless her skin was; there was a thin scar across the back of her hand, but it didn't look that serious. It was like she had spent no time in Shadowland at all. How was I supposed to say all that I was feeling in a sentence, to tell her how happy, grateful, but yet so hopelessly confused and suspicious I was at the same time? "...how did you get out of Shadowland?"

"What the hell is Shadowland?" Nina wondered incredulously, her eyes narrowed. She turned to the person beside her: Eddie. He looked the same as well; spiked blond hair, hazel eyes that you could see well in the sunlight, and a grey sweatshirt that was lighter than Nina's long black overcoat.

I stood still, staring at both of them, unable to believe my eyes. How are they both here? Wasn't Nina supposed to be trapped in an alternate dimension, barely fed, losing weight by the day? Yet here she was, healthy weight, healthy complexion and bright smile. Wasn't Eddie supposed to be bonding with his dad? Yet here he was, with Nina, with a look that told he he didn't know where he was.

This was beyond my comprehension. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it echoing in my skull; Nina and Eddie were here, but something felt different, somehow, like they weren't.

Nina laughed lightly, rolling her eyes and turning away. I wanted to call out to her, to ask her where she was going with him and ask how she got out of Shadowland, but Nina always had a knack for having a loud whisper. So when she whispered, "That dude is fucking weird, Eddie. What the hell is Shadowland?" I heard it loud and clear.

"What are you doing, Nina?!" I yelled out to her, still not believing whatever the hell I was seeing. "How did you get out? Where are you going?" I couldn't let her get away from me; not when I had just got her back so suddenly, with or without an explanation.

"Away from _you_!" Nina screamed back, turning with a look of utter confusion on her face. Still, even though she was approaching me with said expression, I couldn't comprehend why Nina would possibly be confused to see me. "I don't even know you, so stay away from me, you creep! Don't follow me _anywhere_!"

I was plastered to the ground as the realization finally went through me. At the same time, Eddie took her arm and started to steer her away from me. "Let's go, Nina," he muttered, glancing back at me. "He'll leave you alone if we walk away."

Nina had just called me a creep, while last year she would call me anything but that. Eddie, while his body was facing the other way, was glaring at me with his head turned. Why was he doing this? He was in Sibuna with us. He knew what we were doing.

The realization: Nina and Eddie didn't know me, but I knew them. They had no idea who I was, who I was to them, or that Fabian Rutter even existed at all.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Do you believe me now when I say I can't end chapters?**

**Anyway, I guess that was that...we actually learned some new things and there's that end...what do YOU think that end means? All I'm gonna say is that the "sequel" comes into play, since I officially cancelled the sequel and this story'll officially have ONLY 15 chapters left. There's 15 more weeks until it all ends, and hopefully I can conquer up an update once a week from now on. **

**Also, I know it may sound "greedy" when I say this, but could I ask for reviews? They do make my day, plus I feel like my writing has gotten weaker and weaker...if you could, would you spare a few seconds of your day to make mine even better? Thanks a bunch. -Lia xoxo**


	50. In the Chill of Midnight

**A/N: OOPS I MISSED A WEEK SURPRISE SURPRISE**

**OH MY GOODNESS. 50 CHAPTERS. THAT IS HALF OF 100. WAT. WHY AM I STILL ON CAPS LOCK.**

**Can you believe it, though? 50 chapters. Seems like just yesterday I was happy about reaching chapter 20, and now...we have 12 more chapters to go before it ends, because I cut two more chapters and that's final. I promise you, this time, it's staying at 62 chapters, no more, no less. The "epilogue", per say, is 8 and a half chapters, while the main story line only has...5. That doesn't make sense, but...yeah. **

**Enjoy the chapter, anyway! Pay attention to what they find out, because the main climax/falling action is on chapter 55, and we're on 50 as of right now.**

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>  
><strong>Tuesday, December 6th, 2011<strong>

"Nina. It's me. Fabian."

It took another few minutes to get her to stay where she stood without running away screaming for authorities, but now she just stood there with a blank expression. Nina, my former girlfriend, my best friend and my partner-in-crime, who didn't recognize me. My best friend, who was somehow out of Shadowland.

"I don't even know a Fabian," she breathed, staring at me, uncomprehending. "Isn't that...like, a really unpopular name?"

My heart ached. Here she was, the person I'd been looking for for almost two months, and she didn't even know who I was. "Why don't you remember me?" I asked her softly, glancing at Eddie, to the right of her. He was crouching down, drawing something in the dirt. "I remember you. Why don't you remember me?"

"I can't remember you if I haven't even met you before," Nina protested, stepping a little bit away. I almost wanted to grab her and bring her closer, but I had to remember that somehow, she didn't know me. For all she knew, I could a serial killer. Strangers were not to trusted, especially a stranger who kept insisting that you knew him. I had no consent; not anymore. I couldn't bring her closer. I could only let her drift further apart from me.

"But you _have_ met me before," I tried to convince her, staring at her features longingly. Here she was, and I couldn't even kiss her, tell her how stupid she was for not sending me a dream the past week or so, and bring her back to the House to make her soup and snuggle on the couch with her.

"No I haven't," Nina continued to persist, but I sighed and spoke my mind, the thoughts that had been invading my brain for the past minute or so I had been talking to Nina.

"You have," I stated sadly once again. "I was the only person that was nice to you when you first arrived at Anubis, since Patricia labeled you as a murderer because Joy went missing. She dared you to go to the attic. You found the portrait of Sarah and I went up there with you. Then Amber got involved, and me, you and her formed Sibuna...do you not remember that?"

"I don't even know what Sibuna means—"

"Anubis backwards," I interrupted her, feeling like a thousand-ton weight was being pushed onto my chest. "It's our club. We found the Cup of Ankh last year, don't you remember that? We kissed at the prom. I asked you to be my girlfriend and you accepted. We survived the summer without seeing each other...and then...when we came back, we survived for the month and a half before you went missing."

"I never went missing." Nina's green eyes were fierce and strong, like she knew what she was doing. She really didn't. "I moved to England in 2007 with my cousin Eddie over here." She pointed to Eddie crouching on the dirt; he was drawing something that looked quite provocative from what I could see. "I have parents. I have a family. I never attended this 'Anubis House' of yours, and I never. Went. Missing."

Seeing her like this, like she wasn't just trapped in an alternate dimension for a month and a half, troubled me. She went through and suffered so much in such a little time, and now her memory was wiped of it, and I couldn't convince her that those things had actually happened.

I bit down on my bottom lip, preventing myself from crying. I wasn't going to cry in front of her when she didn't even know who I was; I wasn't about to show her that I was weak. When I closed my eyes, I expected Nina to be gone from my sight when I opened them again, but...when I actually did open them, there she was, still in front of me. She hadn't moved an inch, for some reason that I couldn't explain.

"What's your last name?" I asked her, slowly, not letting any tears fall or any tendril in my voice to crack from the tears.

I didn't know what I was expecting, until she told me nonchalantly, "Miller."

Eddie wasn't her protector; he was her cousin. She wasn't Nina Martin; she was Nina Miller. Her parents were still alive, and she came to England in 2007 instead of 2010. She wasn't the Chosen One. Maybe the mysteries at Anubis House had never happened at all, and were just figments of my imagination making up for a dull life.

Maybe I'd wake up in my bed on the morning of October 17th. Maybe this whole fiasco with a dream...was a dream within itself.

She was gone. All my memories of the girl who had changed my life for the better were nothing more than a memory now...maybe memories of something that had never happened. She was gone, and I couldn't get her back. Not really. Even if I convinced her to get coffee with me or something, she wouldn't be the Nina Martin that I'd fallen for.

No, she wouldn't be that bright and curious, always willing to take on a challenge, troubled American girl I'd given sympathy to in the beginning of the year because I could understand being unwelcomed. She wouldn't be the leader of Sibuna, and she wouldn't be the Chosen One. I couldn't get her back.

Unfortunately, the Nina that wasn't Nina saw my sadness and shifted uncomfortably around on her feet. I didn't know why she didn't just leave, but I was grateful that she didn't. "What were you expecting me to say?" She asked quietly, the fierce gaze in her eyes softening. "I can't be someone I'm not."

I took in a shaky breath, and told myself to have the courage to look in her eyes. Maybe she was still there, somewhere deep inside her soul. Maybe she just suffered a bad attack in Shadowland, and Eddie got her out of there, but she had amnesia, or something. Still...it didn't explain Eddie's lack of knowledge to who I was.

"So you seriously don't know me?" I asked one more time, trying to control the shake in my voice. Nina shook her head with sympathy, looking like she wanted to smile but knew that it would be wrong to smile at a time like this. "I don't understand. How are you out of here? Why are with us...if you're not the same person?"

"I am the same person," Nina groaned again, leaning against a Christmas tree to her left. At this point, Anubis House and Trudy were probably far ahead of me; it would take minutes to find where they were. I stayed, though, because this was Nina. She continued, "I'm Nina Miller. My parents are Louisa and Robert Miller. Eddie is my cousin. I lived in America until I was 12, then I moved here because my parents were offered jobs. My best friend is Anna Charlesworth and we hang out in her artist studio all the time. I'm 16 years old...

"And I'm nothing special," Nina concluded, letting me feel my chest drop. She was nothing special; she wasn't the Chosen One. She didn't put together the chandelier with me to find two of the seven pieces. She didn't do any of that with me...

"I'm sorry we took so long," I apologized, willing myself not to get worked up. "I'm sorry we couldn't find you in time. I...I just want you to remember, and then you can come home with us, and...everything would go back to normal."

"And this is what will happen," boomed a voice suddenly, taking me off guard, making me so shocked I couldn't focus on Nina, and how she didn't even look the least bit surprised. And that was when I pinpointed the voice: Eddie.

Eddie pushed himself off the ground and clawed Nina's arm so hard she flinched, but she didn't look the least bit shocked or scared. Eddie's eyes met mine, and I saw evil in them; he was looking right at me, probably intent to kill me. "This is what will happen if you do not go fast enough!"

I was too shocked to realize what was happened. Eddie dug his fingernail's into Nina's arm even further, making her wince and look down at the dirt. "You have to go faster..." he laughed, looking nothing like himself. "You have to discover the clues faster, or this will happen. It will be like Nina never existed, or Eddie Miller even existed. Why would you want to do this for nothing, hmm?"

This wasn't Eddie. This was someone else, someone who had red eyes, someone who would dig their fingernail's into Nina's arm while telling me to go faster or he'd hurt both her and the people at Anubis House. Eddie laughed, almost maniacally, and for a second there I was actually scared for Nina's safety. "What do you mean go faster?!" I asked him, and the wind began to blow, tousling both Eddie's and my hair. "I can't go faster! It's already over!"

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>That was when I woke up.<p>

In my bed, the night sky still dark, Eddie and Mick snoring soundly in _their_ beds. My clock read 3:02 AM, December 6th, 2011.

Tuesday hadn't happened. We hadn't gone to the Christmas tree farm. Nina wasn't there. She was safe...in Shadowland (I never thought I'd put those two words together).

It was all a dream.

She still knew who I was. But I had limited time, or that would happen, and she _would_ forget who I was. Her memories would be erased.

It was all a dream.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Eddie<strong>

Nine days was enough. I was determined to get through that door even if I had to break through it. Something was up, and something was wrong. She wouldn't have just abandoned the dreams like that. Something was wrong.

It didn't take me long to run through the woods, nor did it take me that long to open the lock into the warehouse. My main problem stood in front of me when the door to Shadowland was still locked, forbidding me to go inside.

I tried everything, first. I pounded on the door, asking for Paul. I pounded on the door, asking for Nina. I tried breaking it open like they do in the movies, by moving it in with your shoulder. I cursed out Paul for locking me in in the first place, I yelled out "NINA, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, SAY THAT YOU CAN!" But with no response except the wind outside the open front door.

I sat down against the door and waited. I shook with fear, knowing something was wrong, knowing that I had failed in my duty as the Osirian. I was born to protect the Chosen One, and now I couldn't do that. I shook with the cold, because it must've been something like 40 degrees out (in Fahrenheit; I was American and I never really did catch on to Celsius). I sat down and waited for something to happen but by the next time I checked my watch, it was 6:45, and nothing had happened.

The people at Anubis were either waking up, or were already up. Fabian was probably wondering where I was, and Patricia would want to talk about that information we found in my dad's office, the information that either me or Nina (or both of us) would die.

I wasn't ready to die; I was sixteen. I had my entire life in front of me. I didn't want to die, and I'm sure Nina didn't either. I knew, somehow, I had to find a way out of that... "prophecy" or whatever else you can call it. Paul had told me a few weeks ago that if Fabian and the others didn't learn quick enough, he'd erase both Nina and my memories, therefore the reason why Fabian was panting when he suddenly woke up a few hours ago. And the only way to avoid it right now was to get in that door.

And so I tried all of those things I did before, and more. I tried picking the lock, like Fabian had shown me, like _Nina_ had shown him, but to no avail. I gave up again, until I realized that maybe I _could_ break it down...angrily, I picked up a wood chair from the corner of the room and rammed it into the door several times until it finally gave in. It took so much out of me that I had to lean against the wall and catch my breath, but with the (very) small hole that was rammed in the door, I walked into Shadowland for the first time in over a week.

Nothing looked different, but something sure as hell _felt_ different. Maybe it was that Paul wasn't standing right by the door, waiting to give a one-liner like we were in a film or something. Maybe it was that Nina wasn't running to hug me and ask me how my _week_ was, since I hadn't been able to visit her in that long.

Instead, nothing happened except for the rustling of the leaves in the trees. "HELLO?" I called out, my shoes clicking on the concrete below. "IS ANYONE HERE? PAUL? NINA? WHERE ARE YOU?"

Silence once again. I exhaled for quite a long time and leaned against the trunk of a tree at the edge of the woods, feeling the bark cut through my shirt and into my back. I closed my eyes and thought...Nina had to be in here somewhere. She was forbidden to leave, after all. Where could she be, if she didn't come running into my arms first thing?**  
><strong>

I didn't want to go into the house to the north, because Paul would most likely be waiting for me. He'd ask why I hadn't been in to tell him what the Anubis students had been doing lately, even though that was mostly _his_ fault, not mine. I stood with my eyes closed against the tree trunk, thinking about my next move, how softly I'd have to tread, when I heard a distant cry.

It was like a whisper that you could hear clearly, like if your parents were muttering about you in the kitchen while you were in the living room, and you could _obviously_ hear them even though they were trying to be quiet. I couldn't make out what the noise was, or who was saying it, but the desperation in the tone was clear enough.

"Hello?" I called out, pushing myself off of the bark. "Who's there? What's wrong? Hello?"

I listened for it again, but the voice was silent again. I almost went back to my tree, but I couldn't get the desperation of that cry out of my head. I stayed put, not one muscle moving as I waited for the voice to sound again, and sound again it did. "Help," it cried out again, louder than the first but not loud at all. "Help. Please."

"HELLO?" I screamed again, waiting for a response. "HELLO?"

"EDDIE!" The voice screamed, louder than I did. "EDDIE! HELP! EDDIE!" As the voice was no loud enough for me to recognize, I froze in place, my breathing rate increasing. I knew the voice. I was close to the voice. The voice that needed help and I hadn't been here to provide that. Nina.

"NINA?" I screamed again, closing my hands together in a fist so I wouldn't sweat through them. "NINA! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"EDDIE," Nina's voice sobbed, loud enough for me to hear even outside the house. She didn't cry out or yell anymore after that, which sent my heart rate flying. Where was she, what happened, and _who did that to her_?

Instead of waiting for another cry for help, I took it upon myself to act. I was the Osirian; I was born to protect the Chosen One, and if running into the place I most dreaded was what I was supposed to do, so be it. I flung open the screen door, as the front door was wide open, therefore allowing me to hear Nina's screams from before. "NINA?" I called out again, once stepping foot into the foyer. "NINA!"

I stood silently, breathing heavily but silently. I kept flinging my head left and right, scanning the hallways to make sure Paul wouldn't jump out and slaughter me on sight for not coming in, even though I was locked out. I waited one more beat, and then Nina screamed again, "EDDIE!"

She was in trouble. Small cries and sobs came from a room down the hall, and it was my duty to get her _out_ of trouble. I swore to God, whoever did that to her was _dead_. She was more than just the girl I was destined to protect...she was my friend. She accepted me and didn't care that I got into trouble before I took a flight to England, the day after Halloween. She was in trouble, and I needed to help her.

I followed the trail of her cries to a door that was slightly open...I ignored my pounding heart and pushed it open, hearing the creaking noise it made...it probably hadn't been moved in a week. My heartbeat was so loud that I could hear it vibrating throughout my entire body, and I didn't dare make a sound as I lifted my head.

I lifted my head to see Nina, lying down on a bed, both arms handcuffed to the headboard. "NINA!" I screamed, even though she was ten feet in front of me.

Her eyes snapped open, and as soon as she recognized me, she let out a huge sob. "Eddie!" She cried, shuffling around so she was sitting up, but failing every time. I felt like I was glued to the spot; I could do nothing but watch as she struggling with both of her hands handcuffed above her, and it wasn't until she released a sob of pain that I was shaken out of my frozen state to rush and help her.

"Nina, I'm going to get you out of this, okay?" I promised her, running over the bed and taking her head in my hands. There were tears streaming down her face, whether from happiness or anguish, I couldn't be sure. "Okay, um...key...I need to get you out of this. You're going to be okay, you understand me?"

I didn't even understand why she was handcuffed to the bed in the first place, but I suspected it had something to do with why she hadn't been sending the dreams. "There's a key on the door," she cried out again, her voice broken from sobs and scratchy from the yelling she had probably been doing all week. "Oh, Eddie..."

I sprinted over to the door handle, and grabbed the key. Breathing heavily (and loudly this time), I moved back over to the bed and stuck the key in the lock, turning gently so I wouldn't break her skin or cause her any more pain. As soon as the handcuffs came off, her arms slowly moved back down to her chest, and I embraced her in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I breathed into her ear, as she shook with sobs. I didn't dare ask her why she was crying; I let her get it all out, the tears from being handcuffed to the bed for who knows how long; I had the worst feeling that she had been handcuffed since we had gotten locked in Shadowland, which was a whopping ten days ago. Had she really been suffering like this for ten days?

"I'm sorry," I told her gently, holding her close. "You're gonna be fine, alright? You're with me now. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"It was...horrible..." Nina spoke through her sobs. I could barely understand her, since her face was buried into my shoulder.

"Don't talk about it, okay?" I moved her in front of me, holding her by her shoulders and looking straight into her eyes. "It'll just make it worse. You need time to recover, okay, sweetheart? You'll be fine as long as I'm here. I promise. Paul won't hurt you anymore."

At the name, Nina winced in pain and tucked her hands into her stomach. Simply _thinking_ about how hungry she might be made me want to cry myself, but in this circumstance, I had to be strong for her. She didn't need a crying teenage boy in the room with her; she needed someone to reassure her that nothing would hurt her, even after ten days of being handcuffed to be a bed...

That probably wasn't even the beginning of it. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she had been through, but I knew above all that Paul was the reason for this. He was the person that handcuffed her, and forbade her from giving anyone a dream. He was the one that could have done horrible things to her, like hit her or famish her or...

"He didn't do anything to you, did he?" I asked Nina, my anguish transforming into rage. I wanted to ball my hands into fists, but instead they were around Nina's wrists, caressing them, since handcuffs had been locked around them for ten days straight. "You know, like...sexually? Did he do anything to you? Did he rape you?!"

"No," Nina confirmed, her sobs slowly lessening with each passing minute. "I promise he didn't. I swear on Fabian's life he didn't."

That was the sentence that assured me that Paul didn't do anything illegal or immortal, or damage Nina in any way...other than famishing her or beating her. "Okay," I shook my head, my heart dropping ten stories down my chest. "Okay. Wow...I didn't...I'm so sorry, Nina. You're going to be okay."

"I can't even begin to believe that." Her voice was too broken to be understood fully. I didn't know how many times she had screamed for help, or cried in pain, or yelled for anything she wanted: freedom, to see her friends in Anubis House, to see me again. "I...I just spent days and days handcuffed to a bed, and..."

_I_ couldn't even begin to understand what she was feeling. I couldn't assure her that she'd be fine, because honestly...how could things be fine after all she had been through? How could I bring her back to normal, or make her forget what had just happened?

We had limited time. Paul threatened to erase our memories if Fabian and the others stalled any longer. Which means that everything Nina had been through, everything she had suffered because of the dreams she was giving, would be for nothing, and her sobs of this present moment would be engraved nowhere. We wouldn't remember this.

So instead, I moved around to sit on the bed with her. I brushed her hair out of her face, making her dried and fresh tears clearly visible on her face, but I didn't care. My main priority was making she was okay, that she was fine, that she'd wake up in the morning with a smile on her face, knowing she'd be able to send a dream that night.

But for now, I let her cry.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Mick<strong>  
><strong>Wednesday, December 7th, 2011<strong>

For the entire day, Eddie never returned. Fabian and I woke up around normal time, and when Eddie wasn't in his bed, we'd both assumed he had woken up early and was already at the breakfast table.

However, he wasn't. When he wasn't anywhere in the House, Fabian told me not to worry; he was probably in the school, having breakfast with his dad or something. So Fabian walked to school with this 'gang', while I walked towards the school alone, like I usually did, ever since Mara and I broke up.

Afterwards, the entire day passed, and Eddie never came home. By the time Victor gave his daily Pin Drop speech, Fabian had begun to tell me that he was getting a bit worried...there was still no word from Nina ever since November 27th — to give a scale, it had been 10 days since then. Now with no sign of Eddie, Fabian was beginning to become a little suspicious.

One thing I wasn't expecting, though? To get a dream myself, the first one any of us in the House has gotten for 10 days. Me, of all people; me, the person who Nina only spoke to once in her entire first term here.

Now, this wasn't my first dream, but I certainly didn't have as many as Fabian or Amber did. As soon as it registered within me that I was, in fact, having a dream, I knew what was going to happen; I was going to lose my footing as soon as I landed on the concrete, since it would feel like I was falling from a two-story building. I closed my eyes and embraced myself for the pain of the landing...when no pain came.

Nina had caught me before I could hurt myself, or I could land rather uncomfortably on my feet. She and I locked eyes for literally less than a second, before she turned and her whole body shook. It wasn't like I really memorized what she looked like last year, but her light brown curly hair was still in place, matted, as if she hadn't brushed it in weeks. "Thanks," I told her quickly, and she nodded.

I exhaled a deep breath, taking in everything around me...once again, I was in Shadowland. The Shadowland with the House to the north, and deep forest in the east. The Shadowland that Fabian and the others had gone to, leaving me behind 10 days ago, getting themselves locked in there rather unfortunately. I never thought I'd see it again after my _first_ dream all those days ago...but here it was, and here I was.

Nina was silent; as was I. What was I going to say? "Hi, Mick," Nina greeted, after clearing her throat, not even bothering to look me in the eye for more than a second. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," I returned awkwardly, staring at the concrete myself. Just when I thought that we were going to engage in this awfully awkward conversation since we barely knew each other, Nina cleared her throat once again and got straight to the point.

"Look, Mick," she breathed, her eyes glued to the concrete, "let's just get this out of the way, yeah? I know something...so I'll just tell you, and send you on your way."

I liked that plan. I nodded, not giving a thought to how _she_ must feel about that; I didn't know what happened to her in the 10-day break she took from the dreams; not even Eddie would tell me where he went on the day he disappeared. "So...what do you know?"

"Something about the door." She nodded her head behind me; I turned around to see the bright blue door at the bottom of the staircase, almost hidden by the fog surrounding it.

"That's how to get in, right?" I asked innocently, and once again, Nina nodded in agreement. "I...I think Alfie and Mara said that they think your locket is the way to get in there."

I was expecting Nina to either agree or disagree with the idea, but instead, Nina just bounced on her heels, stared at the ground, and didn't say a word. I knew I couldn't leave this dream without giving some information to Fabian; he had been dying day by day, longing to experience a dream again. I couldn't tell him I had a dream without giving him _some_ information.

"I thought...I thought only you and Eddie had complete power over the locket," I tried again, and in response, Nina glanced back up at me. "Since...since you're the 'Chosen One', and he's the Osirian. I don't even know what that means, or why it ties to...the search at hand, but...okay, let's say if it really was the way to get in, and it wouldn't work because—"

Nina's eyebrows were arched as she stared at me in confusion. I'd be confused too if I was hearing someone talk the way I was, since I had no idea how to word this. I took a deep breath. "I'm not saying it is or it isn't, but let's say that if your locket really was the way into here...how are we expected to get in ourselves, if only Eddie and you have the power to use it?"

"I guess you won't know until you try," Nina shrugged, finally locking eyes with me for more than a second at a time. "But...there's this other thing, as well. I can't get out of that door if the curse isn't lifted, even if you and the others have opened it."

"Alright," I said quietly, trying to soak all of this information in like a sponge. "So...we need to figure out the curse first, is that right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm really not the man for that type of thing," I admitted, a little ashamed of myself. "I mean, I can try to convince the others to try the door thing, but I'm not good at science...like, at all. My dad wanted me to be a scientist, and I failed miserably."

Nina laughed weakly, diverting her gaze once again. I stood silently, having nothing else to say, while I waited for Nina to finish bouncing on her heels and think of something to say herself. Eventually, after about two more minutes, she spoke. "Thank you, Mick."

"Thank me for what?" I wondered incredulously, extremely curious as to why she was thanking me. "All I did was come here and listen to you. The only thing I can do is pass on this information to Fabian — oops, I mean...Amber and the others. That's all I can really do."

I was expecting her to flinch on the name Fabian, because of the whole break-up thing, but surprisingly enough, she stood her ground and grinned sadly at me. "That's good enough for me. If you could...try the door thing, okay? Just...don't say I suggested it, because I don't want the others to think I'm selfish."

I froze in spot, overly confused at why Nina would ever think he would consider her selfish. Here she was, a sixteen-year-old girl who was trapped in Shadowland with no way to get out, and no company other than Paul and Eddie; Paul was rude and uncouth and presumptuous and abused her sometimes, while Eddie had been _locked out_ of Shadowland for the past week or so. She wanted to get out. She didn't want to suffer anymore. Anyone, anyone in the world would wish that; why would she think we'd consider her selfish?

"Just send someone a dream tomorrow, okay?" Was my last departing request. I barely knew anything about these dreams, other than the person was sent here to Shadowland to hear what Nina had to say to them for a short amount of time.

Now, I had never been close to Nina; I knew she was close to _Fabian_, but I had never gotten to know her. Because Fabian was close to me, this was of my concern; I didn't want him to be upset anymore. I was going to tell Fabian about this entire ordeal, and maybe a little life would come back into his eyes...the mystery would resume once more. His best friend wasn't dead, and neither was the mystery.

"Yeah," Nina whispered, sending me off. I could feel myself coming back to Anubis House as she told me she would do as I asked, but I couldn't be so sure. She looked like she wanted me to stay, somehow.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Mara<strong>  
><strong>Thursday, December 8th, 2011<strong>

I knew it pretty much as soon as I fell asleep; I was getting a dream.

Earlier that morning, at breakfast, Mick had told us he'd gotten a dream. Fabian, for once in the past week and a half, was actually excited about something. He actually anticipated what Mick had to say, and he wasn't bitter that Mick had gotten the dream instead of him, unlike Patricia.

I ignored Patricia's protests throughout the entire day, through school and everything. While Mick told Fabian what he had learned in the dream: that the curse needed to be lifted before anyone even _thought_ about opening the door with Nina's locket like Alfie said it might, Patricia complained that "she honestly thought that this 11-day-break was going to be her time", and that "she'd be the one to get a dream". I just wished she would settle down and realize that the dreams weren't all they were knocked up to be.

I had only gotten two or three of them myself, but they still scared the living shit out of me. I knew what would happen and braced myself for the pain of the collision, but just like Mick said what happened to him, Nina steadied me before I could hurt my ankles.

"Hi," I greeted, staring at Nina's face. She looked fine; no cuts, no bruises, no scrapes; Mick told us that Nina didn't explain what had happened to her during her ten-day absence, but she gave off the impression that she had had a "lazy weekend", or something like that. "You're...you're here to explain about the curse, right?" I asked cautiously, knowing not to tread on dangerous territory, but Nina only nodded.

I knew I was smart. Mr. Sweet was considering me for Valedictorian even in 11th grade. I was a science nerd; I tutored Mick last year when he was having trouble. I was the person most fit to receive this information, and I was aware of that. But at the same time, I didn't want to be; I wanted to be as close to Nina as Amber was, so we could talk about boys and makeup instead of the search at hand.

"Do you know how to rid the curse?" I asked softly, even though I knew no one else was here except for us. I had to get down to business, no matter what my wishes were.

"I think so." Nina's voice was as quiet as mine was, even in the dead silence. "I think...well, you already know part of it."

I thought back to the past two weeks; what had Fabian written down, what had we learned? I realized that I should know this...I was a Seeker. I knew the answer to any question, unless the answer was restricted. This information, however, was not.

"Alfie thinks the locket is the way to get into here," I began, not moving my gaze off of Nina's face. For once, she didn't look away. "But we know we can't use the locket unless we release the curse first."

"That's not necessarily true," Nina interrupted me. "It might have come out wrong yesterday, but...I'm not positive if the locket works or if it doesn't. I've literally been out of here _twice_ since I was taken back in October. Let's just say if it does work, then you came _in_, but I can't come _out_."

"So what you're saying is that it's basically useless for us to come in unless we know the solution to the curse, because we won't be able to get you out?" I inquired sweetly.

"Yeah," Nina confirmed, quiet as a mouse. It made me wonder why she was being so quiet...of course, I didn't know what happened to her in the ten-day dream hiatus, but it couldn't have been good. Nothing 'good' would make Nina too scared to raise her voice. "Because...you'd just be wasting your time, since I know the answer isn't in here."

"Where's the answer to the curse, then?" While Nina's voice slowly shrunk, mine rose. "Because Alfie and I can go look for it. Ooooh, and even better, if you know it now Alfie and Jerome and I can conjure it up tomorrow and we can finish this _right now_ and—"

"You won't be able to finish it now," she interrupted me suddenly, brushing my idea to the side with the wave of her hand. I stood in stunned silence, watching her gaze fall back to the ground again. "You need...well, you need supplies. From last year."

Slowly, I put the pieces together in my head: Joy's disappearance, Chosen One, the Cup of Ankh... I recited the last one to Nina; the only action she gave in response was a blink, but her downward gaze was so sad that I couldn't be mad at her for not responding or giving any hint to if the answer was a yes or a no. "How do those work into the curse?" I wondered.

"Eventually..." After a long silence on her part, Nina finally put her thoughts into words. "After you find out the way to get in here, whether it's the locket or not, someone's going to have to lift the curse to get me out of here. And it...it hurts me too much to say it. Mara, maybe you can figure it out...you are a Seeker, after all."

Now, the information wasn't restricted, but I wasn't all that positive I wanted to look inside it, either. What I knew might be well enough; we could try out the "locket" theory in the warehouse, to see if it worked or not. If it worked, we'd need to find out how to lift the curse to finish this all, or find another way in if it didn't work. Did I really want to skip ahead and see the future?

Yes, I finally decided. I did want to see the future. I wanted to be _ready_ for the future. With Nina allowing me access to these secrets she already knew, I looked into the information by myself (Alfie was _supposed_ to be here with me, but instead the connection got mixed up and he received the dreams with Jerome). I looked deeper and deeper until I could find all of Nina's secrets, see all the dark tales she never shared before she came to the House, but my main goal was the information she was telling me about currently...until I found out, and "opened" it, per say.

"You can't do that." I finalized, once I had read and registered the information she had already known, the information she allowed me to read.

"I can and I will," Nina's voice was suddenly now commanding, like she was born to be a leader her entire life but was deprived of that power. "It's the only way to break the curse. If it means...giving life up, then so be it. I'll give it up. It's a small price to pay."

"You won't be _living_ anymore," I tried to convince her, while still grabbing hold of this realization myself.

Nina theorized that the way to break the curse was to bring her the Cup of Ankh, which Fabian had safely stored up in the attic after finding it under the stage a week and a half ago, when we were dragged to detention. We were supposed to bring her the elixir to pour into the Cup of Ankh, for Paul to drink, and her to die, therefore "releasing" the curse and leaving us in peace, but without Nina.

"You'll be dead," I continued, unmoving from my spot on the ground. "There must be another way to release the curse. We won't let you die."

"It's the only way out of here," Nina continued to push...almost like she _wanted_ to die; like she _wanted_ to finish this now. "For both Eddie and I. If we don't die, then Paul will just be following us around forever. I hated that I had to drag Eddie into this, and it's something I'll regret for the rest of my...very short life, but it's something that needs to be done. For your sake as well as ours."

"But I'm not going to let you—"

"We're doing it," Nina finalized, speaking for both her and Eddie. I didn't know how or why she knew what Eddie would want, unless he told her, but still... "I'm sorry, Mara. I'm sorry. But once you bring me that Cup...it's over. _I'm_ over. And possibly...so is Eddie. Your lime can resume to normal. It's over."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>o~~~o/****

* * *

><p><strong>Alfie<strong>  
><strong>Friday, December 9th, 2011<strong>

Mara said she had a dream, but since she wouldn't say anything about it, I knew it had to be bad. I was a Seeker as well, so I knew when some_one_ was hiding some_thing_.

Surprisingly enough, everyone was secretly expecting Patricia's head to exploded like the town of Pompeii. But when Mara announced at breakfast that she was the one to receive the dream, Patricia kept her anger bottled up and muttered something (probably curse words) into her cereal, keeping to herself.

Mara confirmed that the Cup of Ankh and elixir had something to do with the search, but she didn't tell us what would happen, even though _I_ knew that _she_ knew. Fabian was even happier than yesterday, and poor Amber was subjected to Patricia's rants after supper, though she was much quieter than yesterday. The rest of the day proceeded, and it wasn't long before Jerome and I were tucking in for bed.

"What do you think Eddie's hiding?" Jerome asked nonchalantly, slipping under the blankets.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, trying to make out his figure in the darkness. Even when the clock was reading 10:37 at night, his dirty blond hair was the most distinguishable feature.

"What I mean is that he's obviously hiding something." Jerome didn't bother to spare me a glance as he spoke. "Whenever we speak about the dreams in the common room, or when Eddie is near, he doesn't say anything about them. I know he couldn't get in last week but...still, don't you think that's suspicious?"

"I dunno." There had been too much going on in the past two weeks for my memory to keep up; from what I could remember, however, I knew that I thought the locket was the key to getting into Shadowland, though we knew we had to figure out how to solve the curse before moving into the warehouse and trying the locket theory out.

I didn't know a lot about the curse; all I knew was that it was preventing Nina from leaving, and somehow, the curse was tied onto Eddie as well. Death was somehow associated with it all, and the idea that the Cup of Ankh and elixir were tied into this as well wasn't sitting with me right at all. Something was fishy.

I didn't even realize that I was getting a dream until my right arm grazed something concrete. "Sorry!" I heard a rather familiar voice exclaim, slowly lowering me sideways onto the pavement. I tried to ignore the horrible sting that was caused from the graze as the voice continued to cry out. "Sorry, sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried to grab both of you, and...ugh, I'm so sorry."

With my left hand cradling my right arm, I gazed toward the sky to see Nina Martin, Anubis House's first American, the girl who had gone missing 53 days ago (it would be two months on December 17th). "Jerome," Nina turned away from me to face my roommate, since we got the dreams together. "I'm so so sorry, and I know it'll take a lot out of you, but could you please please _please_ heal Alfie?"

"Now why would I do that?" Jerome asked her nonchalantly, but I knew by the expression on his face that he was just kidding around. I grinned as well, but Nina didn't seem to understand.

"He's your best friend!" She protested. The look in her eyes made me want to cry; I could read right through them, and one emotion I saw sticking out above the others was sorrow. "Jerome, I'm sorry, okay? It was an accident. I completely forgot that two people would be coming in here tonight. I was only ready for one, and I realized it too late and Alfie fell to the pavement and I'm sorry, just please heal him! He's your best friend...why would you not want to heal him!? Please, Jerome, I can't just leave him like that—"

"Nina." I interrupted, my smile quickly vanishing off of my face. Jerome seemed to have the same reaction, as his giddy expression from before was now replaced with a concerned one. I spun Sibuna's leader around to face me when I saw that tears were streaming freely down her cheeks. "Nina, I'm fine. It was just a scrape."

"So you're not mad?" She wondered innocently, the last tears falling. Her expression was this mixture of desperation and self-hatred; I didn't understand why my arm simply scraping the ground would do this to her, but she _was_ that upset about such a silly thing. It kind of tugged at my heartstrings.

"Of course I'm not!" I assured her, not knowing what to do next, so I pulled her into an embrace and enveloped her in a hug. Nina hugged back as well, but I caught Jerome's gaze, which was just as confused as I felt. "It's not a big deal, Nina. It was just a scrape. It will heal on its own, I swear to God."

Nina sucked in a shaky breath, holding me in close. I had never hugged her before, since we had a complicated relationship last term. However, now we were in Sibuna together, and if she needed a shoulder to lean on, I'd offer her one. "Thank you, Alfie. God...that was stupid, wasn't it?" She breathed out, relieved.

"No, it wasn't," I assured her, attempting to show her a believable smile so she'd believe me. "You just got scared, that's all. I don't blame you. Just now that I'm fine, okay? I've always been fine and _I do not blame you_ for letting me fall."

"I hate to interrupt this mush fest," Jerome interrupted us, a weak smirk conveyed. "But you called us into this dream, Nina. What have you got to say to us this time? Mara told us her dream was about the curse, so is our dream going to follow-up on that?"

After Jerome's statement, Nina froze like a puddle in winter. We were still embraced in a hug, and with her frozen like that, I wasn't sure if I wanted to let go or if I didn't. Jerome and I shared a glance for a good thirty seconds until Nina's body relaxed, and she slipped under my arms to face King Clarke behind me. "Yes," she agreed, gulping. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to say today."

"Good," I laughed softly, staring off into nowhere. "Because Mara wouldn't tell us anything about her dream, and it was honestly pissing me off. Maybe _you_ can tell us about that...?"

"Tell you about what?" Nina suddenly turned on her heel to face me instead, so Jerome was staring at her back. "You know that the Cup of Ankh and elixir are tied to the curse somehow, and...that's...that's all I really know. It's up to you guys to figure it out from there. You can try out the locket theory, and if that works, then—"

"I know you're hiding something," I told her fiercely, not daring to touch her, but instead giving her a look that I hoped came off as _YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE KEEPING HIDDEN OR I'LL..._. "I'm a Seeker. You can't hide anything from me. I know Eddie couldn't get into Shadowland last week...why is that, huh, Nina? Why couldn't Eddie get in?"

I realized that the Seeker hidden deep within me had once again gotten the better of me when Jerome's confused look turned into surprise, and Nina's comfortable tone and expression transformed into tension. "I'm sorry," I quickly surprised, my hands out in front of my chest. It was a normal, common gesture, but Nina seemed to soften at the sight of it. "I might have gotten...a little out of hand there. You don't have to tell us...if you don't want to. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"Well..." Nina murmured, her eyes traveling down to the concrete. While she thought her answer through, I met my best friend's eyes and we had a silent conversation within our numbered seconds. All I knew about Eddie was that he was trapped out of Shadowland, so we discussed the best and worst theories: that Nina was devising a plan to get out herself and no one could know, and the worse theory...well, I'm sure that neither myself, nor Nina, would want to relive that.

"I'll have to tell you one day," Nina blinked, heaving out a sigh. "So I guess I might as well get it out now."

"Get what out?" Jerome wondered quickly, almost as soon as Nina had finished speaking. His bright, electric blue eyes were one of the more distinguishable features in the darkness that surrounded us, the natural dark tint of Shadowland, were filled with concern and fear; fear for the worst, like I was expecting. "Nina, what is it? Do you know the answer to the curse or not?"

"Not definitely," Nina almost mouthed, that's how quiet her voice was. "But I have a few ideas."

"Tell us!" Jerome exclaimed before _I_ could. "Nina, any information is good information. Fab — I mean, Amber and the others would be delighted to hear anything you have to say. Especially Mara, too, since she's the science geek and might be able to decode your message about the curse..."

While Jerome and Nina discussed the subject of the matter, I gave ideas some thought. Mara's ideas claimed that the Cup of Ankh and elixir had something to do with the big picture...and suddenly, everything came back to me in flashes.

Meeting Nina for the first time in the common room, after hearing Patricia complain about her and her Americanness.

Finding the alien artifact behind the lockers, and showing it to Patricia after finding her in the laundry room because of her freak-out in class.

Patricia and Fabian telling me about Sibuna because they felt guilty that they had lied to me about the puzzle piece being an alien artifact.

Becoming involved with the search, learning about the Cup of Ankh and Victor's elixir of life, and suddenly...

That Friday in June, with Amber and Mara's end-of-term prom. Amber's face when she realized that I was the man who had sent her anonymous messages on her profile page, King Tut, and knowing she wasn't disappointed with who I had turned out to be. Going into the History classroom to supposedly "meet Joy" until Rufus locked us in the room with deadly Citrus Sand Flies.

Seeing Rufus grab Nina's arm to drag her to Anubis House with him, and then seeing Fabian screaming "LEAVE HER!" and tackling Rufus to the ground. Thinking about that moment still gave me a shock; it was far, far different from the Fabian I knew. The Fabian I knew was geeky, sweet, and shy, and didn't stand up for Joy when she embarrassed herself in class a few years back. The Fabian in the classroom wouldn't let Rufus get away with taking Nina with him, all alone.

I remembered what happened after that, in the cellar. Thinking Rufus was dead after finally putting together the Cup, then seeing him hold Amber at "gunpoint" with the queen sand fly, and Nina giving Rufus the Cup so he wouldn't do anything to Amber. I remembered having to fake my death so Rufus would leave...

Faking my death. I had to _fake_ it because Rufus drank the _fake_ elixir.

Nina was talking about the real elixir.

"You're gonna die," I interrupted both Nina and Jerome's conversation, and in response, them both turning to look at me. They both wore different expressions; Jerome was hopelessly confused, but Nina's was almost...sad. Like she didn't want to die, but was being forced into it.

It was all falling into place. I remembered Fabian telling us, on the night we all got ourselves trapped in Shadowland, that he stored the REAL elixir up in the attic. He told Victor he threw it away, but knowing he'd need it later in life, he stored some of it safely away.

It was possible for her to die that way, and it was going to happen. Someone would pour the real elixir that Fabian had saved into the Cup of Ankh, the one that hadn't been destroyed in the cellar. Someone who wanted immortality was going to drink it, and Nina would die, as she was one of the seven Acolytes.

She was going to die.

"You can't do this." I told her, my expression angry...but understanding. "After everything that happened last year? You can't do this."

"It's the answer to the curse," Nina's voice did the talking, but her face revealed it all. "Since Paul is essentially Eddie's Worst, his goal in life is to destroy me. The only way he'd ever...truly destroy me was if I was dead, which is what's going to happen, anyway...it's over. Death is the best way to end things anyway, right?"

* * *

><p><strong><strong>o~~~o/****

* * *

><p><strong><strong>AN: WOW THIS SUCKED****

****Alrighty, I've mapped out what's going to happen within the next few weeks: I've actually prewritten some chapters on this story, to get ahead of the game. Next weekend, I'll take a short three-day break to finish INLILYOA, then as soon as that's over, it's back to Don't Be Afraid again. In my spare time, I'll write The Runaways and The Face of a Killer, while my other countless multichapters are on hold. Yippee!****

****Also...GUESS WHAT TODAY IS?!****

****I'm just going to come out and say it: It's my birthday! Yes, that's right, I'm now 15. I was 12 when I started this story, I turned 13 between chapters 2 and 3, and I turned 14 between chapters 27 and 28. It's strange when you think about it...I've been through 4 different ages with this story. ****

****So yeah, there's the fact that today's my 15th birthday, and also that I saw Wicked on Broadway yesterday as well! A LOT has been going on, I have to admit. I hope you have a nice rest of the weekend on my birthday! ;)  
>-Lia<strong>**


	51. Queue & A

**A/N: Welp. 11,000 words. I went just a wee bit over the top, don't you think?**

**Anyywayy, I cut it down again. I realized I didn't need two of the chapters, so now it'll have 60 chapters, and that's final, officially ending on May 11th. That's in just a little less than two months...wow...I'm getting emotional just thinking about it...it'll be weird to say goodbye after all this time.**

**So anyway, I better end this here and let you read, before I go over the top and add an extra 1000 words. I do hope you enjoy the chapter! =)**

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Amber<br>Saturday, December 10th, 2011**

Within the course of the past few days, people in Anubis House had been receiving dreams every single night.

Mick was the first person to receive his, and after telling Fabian, I could understand why he felt so conflicted. It was Fabian's girlfriend in there, not Mick's, and after a silence of ten days from her, he just wanted word. After eavesdropping on Eddie and Patricia in the closet because of the Seven Minutes in Heaven game I organized and learning that either Eddie and Nina alone/they both would die, I knew why he was so jumpy and why he feared something was wrong.

The next day, Mara was the one to get the dream in the House; after telling us what she remembered, that we had to figure out how to break the curse before even trying out the locket theory, Fabian began to be grateful.

He realized that even though he wasn't the one to get them, any dream was important. Nina wasn't dead. She was alive, and well, and able to send dreams, and Fabian realized and respected that. However, the next day, when Jerome and Alfie received the dream together, he wasn't so pleasant.

Jerome and Alfie weren't necessarily known for discretion, so they didn't hold anything back when they told everyone, publicly, at the breakfast table that the Cup of Ankh and elixir had something to do with the answer to the curse, and so did Nina's death.

Fabian didn't take that too well, of course. He stormed out of the kitchen and into his bedroom and didn't show up to school until French class with Mrs. Andrews. I didn't speak to him, nor did he speak to me; instead, we sat in silence, listening to the lesson and knowing what was going to happen.

If Nina had said it herself, then there was no denying it; Nina was going to die, and this entire quest will have been for nothing. All the sleepless night, plus the many times I'd condemned myself to sleeping in Patricia, Mara, and Joy's room because I couldn't sleep in mine knowing there was an empty bed to the side would have been useless, because the girl we searched for for over two months would be dead by the end. Where was the reward of that? The dreams off our backs?

Maybe we wouldn't get the dreams anymore, but my best friend wouldn't be sleeping in the bed next to mine ever again.

Supper was mostly silent, as was I for the rest of the day. I'd told myself to sleep in my room tonight, because asking Patricia, Mara, and Joy if I could sleep in their room again would be kind of pathetic. So I turned on my side to face the wall, breathing in and our, moving into a slumber as I did every single night.

This night was different; almost as soon as I had fallen asleep, I _felt_ like I was falling. I recognized the feeling almost as soon as I had hit the concrete; I was getting a dream. Nina had picked me, out of all the other people in the House, to send a dream to; the girl who had been so cruel to her for "abandoning us" back in the first few weeks of her disappearance, the girl who complained when mud was stuck to my shoes.

"Hi, Amber," Nina greeted, attempting a smile that I could see right through. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I murmured, brushing some dirt off of my pants. "Um...what about you? How are _you_?"

Nina was obviously shocked by my question; her eyes grew double in size and she looked like she wanted to shrink away, back into the house behind her. I realized that maybe I shouldn't have asked that, even though we were best friends.

If we rescued her — sorry, _once_ we rescued her — I realized it might take a while for Nina to get accustomed back to regular life. People would ask her how she was, much different than how Paul treated her. We'd actually feed her and speak kind words and give her a home, some place she'd want to come back to.

"I'm okay," Nina answered quickly, exhaling loudly and dancing on her heels, staring at the concrete below her. I wanted to strike up a normal conversation with her; talk about the _amazing_ date Alfie had taken me on the other day, or maybe how Mick had woken everyone up in the middle of the night two days ago because he was trying to get a midnight snack from the fridge.

That couldn't happen, and I knew that. The dreams were used to serve one purpose, and one purpose only. "So, um...how is everyone else?"

"Why do you want to know?" I wasn't mad at her anymore; if anything, I was the opposite.

"No reason," Nina shrugged, sighing and leaning against a tree. "I just...well, Sibuna is still important to me, and they're important to the quest as well. Have either you or Patricia lost your senses recently?"

Nina was referring to how I would go deaf and Patricia would go blind, but my sight was enhanced as so was Patricia's hearing. I couldn't be sure myself if it was a blessing or a curse, but it hadn't happened since Eddie's arrival, on November 1st. To give a scale, it was now December 9th. "Nope," I shook my head, wanting to go over to the tree next to Nina and just talk to her, but like I said, we had a deadline.

"That's good." Nina's expression suddenly become dark, like she was plotting for a murder and needed the details. "Um...what about Fabian?"

"Hey, how about we move on from this, alright?" I suggested, meeting Nina's gaze for about half a second. And in those 0.5 seconds, I saw all I needed to. I thought talking about Fabian would be too painful for her, but her expression suggested differently. "You said Sibuna was important to the curse. How so?"

"Well, you're obviously the ones that have to try to get me out of here," Nina laughed lightly, playing with a singular strand of her in her fingers. She laughed, like she forget that she had told Jerome and Alfie only last night that she was okay with dying by the end of the game. "But...I mean, you're all special in your own way. You and Patricia have to work together...you already know that, though..."

And know that I did; I had known Patricia since I was 11, and even though it had been 5 years, I had never truly been that close to her until she joined Sibuna with us last year. "Yeah, but what about the rest? Alfie and Mara are Seekers. Eddie's the Osirian. Jerome's the Healer. Me and Patricia have heightened but diminished senses at the sign, and Fabian...well, it looks like he really has nothing to him. How are we useful to the quest other than solving the mystery of the curse?"

She wouldn't look me in the eye, but as she stared at the ground, the corners of Nina's mouth began to lift. She was smiling for reasons unknown, whatever they may be, and the usual spark of curiosity and anticipation had ignited within her eyes once again. Even after all that had happened to her, there was still life burning inside.

"You'll see," Nina laughed, her smile never fading. It may sound ridiculous, but to see my best friend happy...well, I knew she was okay. She didn't hate me because of the grudge I was holding against her a month ago. "Just, Amber, try out that locket theory, alright?"

"But I thought you said—"

"I know what I said," she interrupted me, smiling like a complete idiot. "But just try out that locket theory, alright? I've got a good feeling about a lot of things now. Promise me you'll try it out?"

I could do nothing but promise I would, and before I could say anything else, the world started spinning; the dream was ending. I called out for her, begged her to let me stay and talk with her for a little while like best friends should, so I held onto anything I could find to no avail. The dream ended, and all I knew was that we were supposed to try out the locket theory now. I _definitely_ had something to tell Fabian.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Joy<strong>  
><strong>Sunday, December 11th, 2011<strong>

We didn't try out the "locket theory" no matter how many times Amber begged us to do so. She said she "wanted to stay loyal to her best friend", and I knew Fabian did as well, but he was with me on this one; we weren't going to go out there and freeze our asses off. We'd go out there tomorrow, perhaps.

Amber pestered us until he _promised_ we'd go out there tomorrow, after school. He made plans for us to do so, and for most of the day, Fabian basically wrote in the Dream Log about the dreams everyone had been having day after day. Mick had the first one since the Shadowland incident, then Mara, then Jerome and Alfie. Amber got one yesterday, Eddie was out of the equation as he was the "spy" (even though he'd mostly been working with us instead of against us recently), Fabian had yet to receive one, and Patricia was...well, Patricia.

I was one of the four to be out of the "dream square", but that night, I recognized Shadowland almost as soon as Nina had saved me from falling on my butt as I fell into it.

"Hi, Joy," Nina greeted, a small smile on her face. Compared to Amber's description of Nina's "ecstasy", she didn't seem all that happy right now. She looked like there had been a light drizzle on her parade, or something, dampening her spirits, but not quite.

"Hey!" My response might have been a bit too enthusiastic, but I was more taken by the scenery than by the girl in front of me. This was only the second dream I'd gotten since I moved back to Anubis House in October, but Shadowland was exactly like Fabian and Amber had described.

I wondered what it would be like to be them, to get a dream so often that they weren't entranced by everything in here: the house, the forest, the lake, the staircase behind me. It was all too odd to me, and I had been kidnapped by the teachers because I was suspected to be the Chosen One last year. I _knew_ "odd", and this was it.

"Right, so, anything to tell me?" I questioned immediately, shaking myself back to reality. I was brought into Shadowland because Nina had something to say, and she chose me to tell it to. I had to listen, for Fabian and Amber's and everyone else sake. "Did you find out anything new?"

"You didn't try out the locket theory like I told Amber to," Nina realized suddenly, staring off into the distance.

"Yeah, I know," I said quickly, staring off into the opposite distance. In front of me was the house that Nina and Eddie had practically lived in since October, and to the right was the woods. The woods in front of Anubis House didn't leave here, as Shadowland was an alternate dimension, and the entrance was in the warehouse (which was conveniently in the clearing in the woods). "But Fabian and the rest of us are going to try it out after school tomorrow. There was just too much going on yesterday to really focus on anything, plus it was damn cold out."

"Okay," Nina shrugged her shoulders, like that was the least of her worries. She moved her gaze from the staircase to mine, and we locked eyes for a good three seconds before she shook me off. "And, well, do you know where the elixir is?"

"We're not letting you die!" I yelled suddenly, catching Nina off guard. I remembered what Jerome and Alfie had told us, after their dream: that Nina and Eddie were preparing to die, after the height of the search. I also remembered that Fabian had been beyond distressed for the entire day after they had told us that at breakfast, and I could nothing but comfort him and tell him everything was going to be fine, when I had no idea myself. "We're not going to let you die. You've been through too much."

"No!" Nina shook her hands, like she was waving away any suspicion that she would die at the end. "No, no, that's not why I'm wondering! I was just wondering where Fabian hid it. I know he didn't throw it away like he said he did in the cellar last year."

"I think in the attic..." I racked my brain, knowing Fabian had told me where he'd hidden the elixir a few weeks ago. I didn't know Nina all that well, but Fabian did, and he meant a lot to me. I expected him to be cold to me when I had first arrived back, because we were really close before the teachers pulled me out of school the year before, and now he was close to the new girl, but he wasn't like that at all. Fabian basically just picked up where he left off with me, like we had never been separated by evil teachers obsessed with immortal life at all.

"Make sure he takes it," Nina looked me straight in the eye again, unmoving this time. She was serious. "This is important. If you want to get me out, make sure Fabian takes the elixir with him everywhere he goes at all times, or something bad will happen."

"How do you know this?" I asked, pretty much monotonously. I was taking in information quicker than I normally could. I didn't have time for emotion. "And what's this 'bad thing'? Why does Fabian have to take the elixir with him everywhere he goes? Isn't it useless without the Cup of Ankh?"

"Not exactly," Nina denied, sighing. I exhaled as well, my gaze glued to hers. "You can still drink it plain, and it'll keep you alive a little bit longer. You can't achieve full immortality unless you drink it from the actual Cup of Ankh, which Fabian found in the stage two weeks ago."

I remembered fully, though, what Jerome and Alfie had told us after their dream, because they were reminded of the year before. Someone was going to drink the elixir from the Cup of Ankh, and the scales of life would be tampered with, resulting in the gods taking Nina's life purposely. Eddie's Worst/MIR's job would be done. Life would be peaceful for us once again.

I didn't want peace. I wanted Fabian to be happy; I wanted Patricia and Mara and everyone else to be happy. If Nina dies, they wouldn't be happy, because I knew they would feel like they failed, and I didn't want to see any of them upset or blame themselves if somehow we did fail and she ended up dying, so I hoped to God that we'd get her out of there okay.

"Where should he take it?" I asked her calmly, knowing that Nina knew more than I did here. She'd been through and experienced much more than I have, suffered so much more pain.

"Just away from the teachers," Nina nodded slowly, as if running that thought through her own mind. "They're bad news, Joy. Believe me when I say to don't trust them. If they try to convince you to do something, _don't do it_. Run away. Do not get involved in anything the teachers tell you to do."

"Why not?" I yelled out, but it was already too late. The world was spinning, and so was my head. The dream was ending, and all I knew was the information to tell Fabian to hide the elixir, whatever that meant. The only thing that mattered to me was that Nina seemed happy, like she didn't want to die in the first place.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Fabian<strong>  
><strong>Monday, December 12th, 2011<strong>

It had been days, and night after night I spent waiting for the dream I would most likely get. I was the person to get them most frequently, so it surprised me every morning when I woke up and had no recollection of having a dream.

Yesterday evening, Joy had received a dream. She told me that I was supposed to hide the elixir, but Nina didn't tell her why; the only thing she mentioned was that the teachers were evil, but we already knew that. I was already hiding the elixir from them, too; how would keeping it on me help?

It was a mystery to me through class today. The day proceeded like a normal day, but the night came and finally, for the first time in about a week, I was getting a dream. I'd be able to see Nina, the woman who had caused me so much anguish of being apart, the woman I had completely fallen for in her first year. The woman trapped in Shadowland with one goal: to get out. My ex-girlfriend. My best friend.

Like everyone had been saying was happening, she caught me before I could hurt myself by falling on the ground. I stood up, straight as a pin, and said quickly, "Nina. Hi."

"Hey," she greeted, just as quickly. She wouldn't look at me, which was something I really wanted her to do; just to see her face again, to prove that she was real, that she existed still in this alternate dimension. Her eyes drooped, like she was beyond exhausted.

"How are you?" I asked, too afraid to move closer to her. Her expression was so pained and sad, it made me upset just looking and thinking of it.

"Fine," Nina responded, quicker than last time. She didn't say anything else.

I sighed longingly, knowing she wouldn't look at me. All Nina did was bounce on her heels and stare at the ground, even though Joy had told us yesterday that she almost seemed...happy. What was the reason for her sadness today? I decided just to get to the point, thinking it would be better just to leave her be, alone in Shadowland. "So what do you have to tell me?"

Much to my surprise, Nina met my eyes and held my gaze for more than five seconds. The sadness and exhaustion was evident in them, like she could have just given up on life right there and then. But still, the detective in me knew there was more than that. "...Did you take the elixir?" Nina asked, barely any emotion in her tone.

"Oh." I realized that I hadn't done as she asked Joy to tell me to do, making me feel even more guilty than before. "No. B-but I will, as soon as this dream is over."

"Okay."

The scenery began to whirl around me, and I realized what was happening: the dream was ending. Nina was leaving me again, sending me back to Anubis House. The only thing I had to go off of was that she wanted me to get the elixir since I didn't do it yesterday. It wasn't enough. "WAIT!" I screamed, desperate to stop the spinning. I had to ask her again. "WAIT!"

I closed my eyes and prepared to wake up in my bed on the next morning, but instead the spinning abruptly stopped and I stood on the concrete again, Nina standing in front of me. "What?" Nina asked nonchalantly.

I sucked in a deep breath, grateful that she hadn't sent me back to Anubis House. I stared at her again, seeing her tired eyes and matted hair and cut skin, from all the hours she had spent here. Today was December 12th, so in five days, it would be two months since she was originally kidnapped off the road.

I knew the meaning of the dreams now. As much as I wanted to sit here and just talk with her, to tell her that everything was fine and we'd get her out in time, but I knew that wasn't why she had called me in here. I shouldn't have stopped my trip back to Anubis, but now that I had, it was time to ask her something worthwhile. "You haven't told me anything."

"You told me that you'd get the elixir," Nina responded simply, shrugging.

"Yeah," I said slowly, eyeing her again. This time, Nina didn't divert her gaze away from me. "But that's not information we could work with."

It honestly wasn't; so what if I had to get the elixir from the attic. I would, of course, but after that, there was nothing else to do. There was nothing to write in the Dream Log, unlike what Nina had told all the other people she had sent dreams to over the course of the last few days. "Did you try the locket theory?" Nina asked.

"SHIT!" I cursed, but corrected myself as soon as I realized what I said. "No I didn't. We can do it tomorrow."

"You can't!" Nina exclaimed, realization suddenly going through her like a lightning bolt. I stood in shock, watching her pace around in a circle with her head in her hands. I wanted to go over and comfort her, but I didn't know what the problem was.

"Why not?" I questioned, hoping that would divert her attention from her anxiety.

"You just can't," Nina told me apologetically, looking like she wanted to place her hands on my shoulders. "I'm sorry. You just have to trust me with this one: don't try the locket theory tomorrow. It's not the time. _Trust me_."

"I trust you," I told her honestly, a look of confusion crossing my face. Nina nodded in agreement, smiled sullenly at me, before muttering "Goodbye, Fabian", and I saw the world around me swirl faster than Alfie running away from his responsibilities.

I let her send me back to Anubis House, full intentions of trying that locket theory, despite what Nina wanted me to do.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 3:00 PM<strong>

The next day, we had it all figured out. We knew what we were going to do, especially now that I had gone over it with the residents of Anubis House one hundred million times.

As Mrs. Fitzgerald talked about the Ancient Romans, I decided to tune her out and open up the Dream Log. It had been worn to the point of no return, since all nine of the remaining Anubis students had been touching and exchanging it between people.

The first entry in a while was from Mick, because he had been the first person to receive a dream after Nina's ten-day hiatus. Neither Nina herself nor Eddie had told me why she'd been gone for that long, but honestly, I didn't want to know myself. It was good enough knowing that she was safe, and well, and not dying.

The entry read:

_**December 7th, 2011**  
>So I got a dream today. Nothing special, though after Mara's stunt where she hurt her ankle during her fall in, I was expecting to feel the same thing until Nina helped me up. I had never been that close to her, nor did I know all that much about her, but she struck up a conversation like we had been friends forever.<em>  
><em>So, in this dream, despite it only being my third one, she talked about how we had to figure out the answer to the curse before even thinking about trying the locket theory. Nothing much, but I still know next to nothing about her "locket", or the curse. Hopefully she sends a dream to someone smarter tomorrow.<em>

After that, Mara had received the dream the next day. Her entry read as followed:

_**December 8th, 2011**  
>Nina told me the answer to the curse wasn't in Shadowland, and also that we shouldn't even 'try' the locket theory before figuring out the curse. Basically, the same dream Mick had, but at least we know the answer is somewhere in the real world. <em>  
><em>...Nina also said that the "answer" was death, but I refuse to believe that. It can't be true; not with everything that's been happening, not with Nina constantly telling us for the past two months that the answer lied deep within the dreams. She was sending us dreams to get her out, and now death was the only way out?<em>  
><em>There had to be another way. Someway to reverse this...curse. If only I knew what it was.<em>

Mara's entry gave me quite a fright; as her boyfriend, I was someone who didn't want Nina to die, after all she'd been through. Alfie and Jerome had received the dream next, and Alfie had been the one to write the entry as I requested of him.

_**December 9th, 2011**_  
><em>It seems that last year has come back to bite us in the butt.<em>  
><em>Just when I thought that maybe we'd never have to talk about the elixir ever again, I realize that someone is going to drink the real elixir, esentially killing Nina. Fabian told me once a few weeks ago that Eddie would die as well, and now it's all feeling like a load of death.<em>  
><em>I never planned on anyone dying, and it's going to stay that way. One way or another, even if the curse involves the elixir and the Cup of Ankh, neither Nina nor Eddie will die. They've been through and suffered too much to die.<br>But what if it IS the answer to the curse?  
>What if it's the only possible way to get Nina out of there?<br>What will we do next?_

I remembered that we had a long discussion on that subject, because I refused to admit even the idea of Nina dying. Of course, that wasn't the last Dream Log; Amber had written the next one.

_**December 10th, 2011**_  
><em>You'd think that since I'm her best friend I'd get the longest dream but alas, no. Today, we exchanged small talk and she told me to try out the locket theory even though Nina told Mara only like two days ago that we had to figure out the answer to the curse before even THINKING about the locket theory.<em>  
><em>I don't know what was up with her, but she didn't seem like she was really thinking about death. Alfie told me yesterday that in his and Jerome's dream, Nina had spoken of death being the only way out of there, but now...she was happy. Like she didn't have a care in the world. And if death was still on the agenda, she surely had a care.<em>  
><em>What was up with her? Why did she want us to try out the locket theory before investigating the curse? Why did she seem happy after all that she knew now? There are so many unanswered questions.<em>

I turned to the next entry immediately: Joy's. She had been the one to get a dream, the night before me.

_**December 11th, 2011**_  
><em>So, of course, since Patricia and Eddie are off the charts dream-wise and Nina broke up with Fabian, I was the next person to receive a dream.<em>  
><em>It wasn't much. In mine, she asked me about the real elixir from last year and where Fabian hid it, because she somehow knew that Fabian had hidden it instead of thrown it out, like he told us in the cellar last year.<em>  
><em>I didn't know why she so desperately wanted Fabian to collect the elixir from the attic, but I'm not just going to deny her orders. I'll tell Fabian what she told me at breakfast; maybe he'll be happy that she's communicating, or something. Eddie still won't tell us what happened to her during her ten-day absence.<em>  
><em>We know that death is the key to the curse, yet from Amber's entry, she seemed happy yesterday and told us we should try out the locket theory while Nina told Mara only days ago that we should focus on the curse instead.<em>  
><em>How does this all add up? How are we going to figure this out? What's the true answer to the curse and why does Fabian need to hide the elixir?<em>

And, of course, I hadn't collected the elixir from the attic this morning. I'd do it as soon as I got home from school, figuring that nothing bad would happen in the next twenty minutes. I don't know where I would hide it now that I couldn't keep in the attic, but Nina wanted me to do this and I couldn't ignore her.

Joy was right; how would this add up? Was she going to die, or was she going to live? Thanks to when I eavesdropped on Eddie and Patricia in the closet, I knew Eddie might die, as well. What did death have to do with this all? How would it help Nina get out, when in all reality she would be dead, gone, and passed?

I focused on what we had right now. We didn't have time to test the locket theory yet, but we'd do that as soon as I collected the elixir and the Cup of Ankh from the attic. It might be the only way to get into Shadowland. We knew that death was involved with it, somehow, but we didn't know who would drink the elixir, or how it would go down. Could there be a possible way for Nina and Eddie to get out of this alive? Could we possibly cheat death?

Amber talked to me on the walk home after school ended, but I wasn't really listening, just thinking this all through. By the time we arrived back at the House, I was ready to fall asleep and wait for a dream, even if I got one.

As much as I wanted to go upstairs and collect the elixir, I sat down on the couch in the living room first. Alfie and Jerome decided to watch some TV, even though Alfie protested, because he hated television programs. Mara and Mick studied together despite them breaking up, Patricia chatted with Eddie by the kitchen table, and Amber picked at her nails, her schoolbooks in her lap but unused.

I decided to put my schoolbooks and education to good use and study for a little while. It was mostly quiet in the common room, because we couldn't really hold a Sibuna meeting. If we did that, it would just end up with people repeating the same exact things over and over again. We'd be discussing the locket theory and the Cup of Ankh for hours, and get nowhere, progress-wise.

And I knew, thanks to that horrid dream I had where Nina and Eddie didn't know who I was, that I had limited time. If I didn't figure out this mystery in time, their memories would be wiped. I couldn't afford to let that happen; I didn't want to have to make Nina fall in love with me again. That happened naturally over the course of last year...you couldn't manually make someone fall in love with you, could you?

I studied for Mr. Sweet's upcoming test until my eyes bled. I glanced at my watch, seeing the red numbers blur, but from what I could make out it was 4:53 PM. I had spent two and a half hours studying. Thanks to that time staring at a white sheet of paper, I couldn't make out the faces as they walked through the front door of Anubis House and into the living room.

As soon as the three figures approached all nine of us in the living room, it suddenly quieted down. Alfie and Jerome muted their TV show. Mara stopped yelling at Mick over confusing chloroplast and centrioles. All heads turned to them, but it wasn't until my eyesight returned could I make out who they were, and I finally understood why it got so quiet so suddenly.

The three figures weren't friendly or welcoming. They were quite the opposite, actually; in the living room stood Victor Rodenmaar, Kathleen Fitzgerald, and Eric Sweet. All three people I couldn't trust because of their shenanigans last year, and the lengths they went to to retrieve the elixir of life in time for the Chosen Hour. A sudden jolt of realization went through me.

I hadn't gotten the elixir from the attic like Nina wanted me to. I didn't understand why she asked me that, but then again, I didn't ask. I always figured she knew what was best for her safety, but now I understood.

The teachers were here, standing in front of us all, and I hadn't gotten the elixir. I didn't know if it would be a repeat of last year, where Victor bought pet mice to infest Anubis House and vacate us to look for the pieces, but they didn't seem to be releasing any pet animals into the House right now. The three of them almost looked like normal, civilized people, but were here for who knows what reason.

"Hello, students," my History teacher, the one that replaced Jason Winkler when he died, spoke up in the dead silence. "I'd like your attention, please."

As if she didn't have our attention already, Kathleen Fitzgerald clapped her hands once in delight. "Okay! If you all don't mind, we'd like to take each of you in for questioning, please."

She didn't even have to say more. As if on cue, all four of the remaining original Sibunas (Amber, Patricia, Alfie, and myself) shared a short, shocked look, before turning back to the teacher in front of us. Questioning? For what?

Apparently, the rest of the the residents had the exact same reaction. Jerome and Joy protested, saying they had nothing to hide. Alfie played completely innocent, even though all of us knew that wasn't true. Kathleen silenced us, and I stood there, holding my breath as she walked the interior of the living room, glancing at every one of the teenagers, while Victor and Mr. Sweet were still standing in the doorway.

I didn't move a muscle when Kathleen's gaze landed on me, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. We stared at each other for what must have been six seconds, until she abruptly turned away and held a red-painted nail across the room. "You," she smiled, a cruel smile, a ruthless grin. Here she stood, like locking us in Shadowland for hours wasn't enough of a crime.

She was terrifying in her normal form, and much more than Eddie's Worst was inside of her, piloting her every move. I knew what MIR had done to Nina when he thought no one would ever find out...she'd been disobeying him by sending the dreams, possibly providing her with a way out. MIR wasn't here with us now, but a demon teacher was.

Every head in Anubis House turned to him: Eddie. He was the person whom Kathleen was pointing at with her sharp nail, beckoning him to her. He was just as silent as the rest of us, but Kathleen spoke her mind. "Come now, child," she coaxed him, unmoving from her spot in front of me. I was still holding my breath, and I wouldn't exhale until she left from in front of me. "We have much to discuss."

Patricia beside him wore an expression I couldn't read. It was a mixture of emotions, and the second I could pinpoint one, it changed to a different one. Patricia could do nothing but watch as her friend was steered away from her and everyone else and up the stairs, him not bothering to look back at us, despite what we said about him being a Sibuna.

We stared at the three teachers and Eddie walking up the wooden stairs, and I finally let out that breath I was holding. I slumped back against the couch cushions, baffled at what I had just witnessed: had Kathleen Fitzgerald, the woman who locked us in Shadowland when we trespassed and who locked us in detention for the entire day, come and ask to be questioned, completely civilized? What did she want to discuss with Eddie?

Amber was wondering the same exact thing, evidently, because she asked me that exact question as she sat down next to me on the couch again. I could only shrug, as I knew nothing myself; I shared a room with that boy, yet the only thing I knew about him was that he was from America, he was quite the player back in the day, and he was the Osirian, born protector of the Chosen One. Unfortunately, he hadn't been doing such a good job.

I watched as Eddie, his father, Victor, and Mrs. Fitzgerald walked into Victor's office, shut, and locked the door. It made me wonder what they could be talking about...what could be so secretive that they couldn't tell Eddie in front of everyone else?

"Well?" Patricia questioned, finally breaking the awkward silence that surrounded us. We had eight people in the common room; the same eight people that had lived in Anubis House before the events of last year, before Joy went missing. It was just me, Mick, Alfie, and Jerome, while the females included Patricia, Joy, Amber, and Mara. It felt weird to be like this again.

I turned to Patricia, who was standing with her hands on her hips in the doorway. Her eyes were squinted and she was red to the face. "_Somebody_ go up there! Who _knows_ what they're talking about with him?! It could be useful information!"

I didn't even bother to protest. I wanted to know myself what they were talking about, so I slowly took in a deep breath and climbed the stairs on my knees. I didn't want to be seen, and there was nothing else on my mind other than sneaking up there unnoticed.

"Have you been doing your duty?" Was the first thing I heard as I leaned against the door, asked by a voice I couldn't pinpoint.

"Yes, sir." Eddie's voice spoke. I didn't do anything except lean against the door, listening in. I had to remember this all to bring down to everyone else. "I've been going in every night and reporting to Paul about what I gather from everyone."

"And what have you been gathering there, Edison?" From leaning in closer, I could finally give the voice a name: Sweetie. Eddie's father. He was in there along with Victor and Mrs. Fitzgerald...what could he have to do with this whole spiel?

"I don't see why I have to tell you," Eddie's voice interrupted again, the office silent except for their voices. I held my breath again as I listened to them, hoping that Eddie wouldn't give in and spill all the secrets we had told him.

"It's crucial that we must know!" Shouted a different voice: Victor. I couldn't see what they were doing, as my back was to their office, but I heard a loud bang, like he smashed something. "This is almost over, boy. Don't you want it to end?"

"If by end you mean the death of a close friend, then no. I don't particularly want to end this if it means I have to see her die, thank you very much."

I sucked in another large breath of air; they were talking about Nina. After all she had told us about dying at the hand of someone drinking the elixir, and now the teachers were talking about it being over...how could this all add up? How were the teachers involved in this? All I knew was that Eddie was protesting Nina's death, like a friend should. I knew I would.

"Well, it's happening, son," Mr. Sweet's voice spoke again, but it was kinder this time; more sympathetic instead of cruel. "I am sorry, but it must happen. You know we have no choice."

"You HAD a choice," Eddie butted in again, and from what I could interpret he scraped his chair against the wood. "You CHOSE to become involved with him, and now you're in too deep to leave. I _won't_ help you kill my best friend. I WON'T!"

There was the scuffling again. There was a loud murmur that I couldn't get out, and for one short second, I felt the doorknob turn. I was prepared to push off and run down the stairs, but I heard a faint whispering, and then silence.

"Do you know where the elixir is?" A female voice asked: Mrs. Fitzgerald. I cursed under my breath, knowing that the elixir was still in the attic, in full reach of Victor or anyone who wanted to obtain it. I could've gone and got it right there and then...but I stayed. I prayed and hoped that Eddie won't spill again, because we _told_ him ourselves where I hid the elixir and the Cup after I found it. He _swore_ he wouldn't tell a living soul, but his father was in the room with him. He was trying to make peace with Daddy. If his father asked him where it was...

"No." Eddie confirmed, and I almost celebrated because of how happy I was.

"Victor?" Sweetie asked again. "Didn't you say that the elixir was gone? That a student threw it away?"

"That's what Rutter said," Victor told him, and I cringed when I heard my name. "But I do not believe he did. It must be somewhere in this house, but not in Shadowland. Martin wasn't even taken in the events of last year. Edison, do you have the locket on you?"

"Of course I do," Eddie answered, a taste of bitterness in his voice. "I wouldn't have it if you didn't _lock me out_."

I knew that he had been locked out, and that's why we hadn't received any dreams from November 26th to December 7th. It wasn't his fault, apparently, but how on Earth did he get a hold of Nina's locket if it was always hidden in my closet?

"You know we had to," Mr. Sweet''s voice assured Eddie again, more sympathetic than ever. "We can't afford to let the other Anubis residents get in anymore, or to let them know anything else. They know too much already. It's far crucial that we keep them out of the loop and to not let them know what we are doing."

"They're going to find out eventually," Eddie protested again, his voice rising in anger with every word he spoke. "They're going to know when Nina stops sending the dreams. They're gonna know something's weird. They're gonna know she died. Eventually."

"Well, I will think of something in the meantime," Victor said passively, like Nina's death was the least of his worries. "For now, Eric, Kathleen, I must find that elixir that Rutter hid...the new Chosen Hour is approaching. It's time to bring this girl down once and for all, so the Man can return to where he truly belongs. It's time to end it all. Now, Miller, if you would, please hand me the locket."

In my swirl of emotions, only one thought conquered all after that: _DON'T HAND HIM THE LOCKET WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT THE LOCKET WAS NINA'S WHY WOULD YOU JUST GIVE IT AWAY AND LET VICTOR HAVE FULL ACCESS TO SHADOWLAND IF THAT'S TRULY THE WAY TO GET IN_—

But then the shuffle of feet and the door opening sent me back to the present, and I shot down the stairs like Jerry running away from Tom. It would be an unexplainable mess if they found me leaning against their door, eavesdropping.

I sat back down on the couch and breathed heavily, seeing everyone else but Eddie in the living room. Jerome and Alfie were still watching TV, without a care in the world. Even though Amber was trying to calm me down and telling me to take deep breaths, I couldn't process what I had just heard. It was all too absurd.

We hadn't tried to locket theory yet, but now we knew it was the way in, if Victor was asking Eddie to hand it over. They wanted to know where the elixir was, but none of them knew that I had hidden the elixir and the Cup of Ankh in the attic, somehow. Eddie was protesting Nina's death; he didn't want to let it happen, and would do anything to stop it.

But what power did he have to do that? None. We were mere students and they were teachers. Sure, we outsmarted them in the race for the Cup of Ankh last year, but now we were in a race for life or death. If I didn't figure it out fast enough, either Nina and Eddie would both die, or their memories would be wiped. Either choice was preferable, so I knew I had to get her out of there, living, breathing, and alive, before time ran out or someone drank the elixir.

After I went through all that in my head, I realized I still hadn't retrieved the elixir from the attic. So, I ignored Amber and bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I ran past Victor's office and into the girls' corridor, past the bathrooms and picking the lock with a bobby pin in my pocket. The door creaked open.

I sighed, knowing I was walking into an atmosphere I was familiar with. I ascended the stairs, feeling the airy but comfortable feeling overwhelm me.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>"Mr. Rutter, what are you doing?"<p>

Victor Rodenmaar was standing in the doorway, his tall figure towering over mine. I had just closed the door to Nina and Amber's room, since I successfully found the Cup and Elixir of Life in the attic and managed to hide them in their room before I was caught by anyone.

Before I had collected the supplies from the attic, I realized that Eddie and the others were still in his office, arguing about something I couldn't hear. Nina's locket was still in Eddie's hands, so I guessed that he hadn't given it to him yet.

Now I stood in front of Victor himself, his brown trench coat falling against his frame. I didn't know what he wanted, but I stood up straight and answered without a second thought: "I was just putting something back for Amber, sir."

I held my breath and hoped that he wouldn't go in there and check, but he just caught my gaze and studied me for a good five seconds with his deep brown eyes. "Well...I don't want you up here in the girls' corridor fooling around with no surveillance, Rutter. Don't let me catch you again."

I nodded curtly and started to jog towards the stairs, but Victor called my name again. I aburptly turned around, expecting the worse, and the worse was what I got: he said, "Also, don't let me catch you in _Shadowland_ again. Am I clear?"

"I don't know what you mean?" I blurted out, my heart pounding in my ears. Here he was, an involved housekeeper whom I thought would become less involved once he figured his precious elixir had been thrown away by a rogue student, but now he was looking for it again, according to what I heard in my eavesdropping spiel.

"Oh, come off it," his voice was sweet like candy, but his smile couldn't be mistaken. He wasn't telling me this just as a precaution. "We all know you and your other miscreant friends were sneaking into Shadowland two and a half weeks ago. It's very dangerous in there...I'd hate to see you, Millington, Williamson, or any of the others get hurt."

I knew he didn't care about us. He had just spent an entire term fighting against us, and now I had just heard him trying to take Nina's locket from Eddie's grasp, and asking where the Cup was. He hadn't dropped his old habits just yet, and now he was preparing for the main event: grilling me.

I didn't dare tell him that, but he moved in closer towards me. "You must know where the elixir, now don't you?"

Luckily, I was standing by the stairs instead of in front of Nina's room, which is where I had hidden the Cup. I figured it would be safe there for now, hidden in her closet under some shirts and jeans. I didn't stumble backwards or provide any evidence it was in her room, so I gulped down the lump in my throat and shook my head. "No, sir. I do not know where it is."

"Oh, but I think you do," Victor continued, slowly walking to this office again and opening the door, beckoning me inside. It was empty except for two chairs; Mrs. Fitzgerald, Mr. Sweet, and Eddie had probably vacated while I was getting the Cup and elixir. "Come now, Rutter. We have much to discuss."

I figured that I didn't have a choice. Here I stood, in front of a 96-year-old man who had more power than I'd ever dream of. He could, and he would, bring my time at this school to an end if I didn't do what he said. I had to stay focused and not give anything away, because if I did, that would mean the end for Nina and Eddie and this quest in general. I couldn't give anything away.

So I followed him into his office, ignoring his smug grin, and sat down in the wooden chair while I wondered what the others were doing in the common room. "Now tell me where the elixir is?"

"Why do you want it so much?" Was my first retaliation, repeatedly telling myself to not give in to temptation and to spill all my secrets. "You know that I...threw it out last year. There's no way you should know if I didn't or not."

I'd never admit it myself, but he still scared me after all this time. His pointy face was threatening, especially up close, right next to Corbierre. "But I do know," he purred again, moving his hand so he was stroking his stuffed raven. I wanted to swat his hand away, but now I knew where they were. "And I know you didn't throw it away. You couldn't have. You would know there would be a use for it in the future...and guess what? The future is now. That elixir is crucial, and I need it."

"What do you need it for?" I snapped, and didn't apologize.

He was silent for a minute, both hands on Corbierre as he stared at me with his pointy face. He soon realized that I knew as much as he did, and changed the subject before he could dwell on the subject any longer. "Have you been receiving dreams and/or know anything about them, Mr. Rutter?" he asked.

"No," was my immeadiate response, trying not to act like I had just had one last night.

"Oh, come on, boy," he tried to reel me in by sounding sweet, but I wasn't fooled. "You were her best friend."

"For all I know, she's missing," I lied smoothly, though it didn't make much sense. It was obvious I knew about the dreams; why else would I want the elixir, since it's next use was to break the curse?

"Edison would say differently," Victor cooed again.

"He's lying," I lied right back to his face, not even having the slightest clue where this was going. "None of us have been having these...dreams."

"So you have in the past?" Victor questioned me, as if he knew I was lying before. He didn't seem to care in the least, somehow.

"In the past, yes," I finally told the truth, ignoring the pounding of my heart in my chest, echoing into my ears. It was louder than anything else in the room. "But none recently...we've given up on her, Victor."

"You _must_ know where the elixir is!" he boomed, smashing his fist on the table. I jumped in shock, my eyes wide, my hair sitting up straight. "You MUST! You know where it is and you're just not telling me. Well, know this, boy: I am going to find it, rip it out of your hands if I have to. I'll do anything to get that elixir if it means that I both get to achieve immortal life and rid myself of that nasty girl."

I didn't say anything, even though I wanted to. I could've defended her, I could've defended myself by saying that I honestly didn't have the elixir, but I remained silent. I stared at his stuffed bird, thinking of something to say, but of course my tongue tied up in my mouth.

"Go now," he waved his hand to tell me to leave, which I did in a flash. "You're not the only person I can get answers out of today." I walked upstairs and waited for something to happen...and soon enough, Mick walked up the stairs and into the office.

—

Mick didn't know much.

"I didn't know her," he reasoned, watching his housekeeper's expression change. He honestly didn't know her at all, so why was Victor questioning him on her? For all he knew, she had brown hair and was from America and was "super sluethy".

"And I don't know anything about this...elixir, whatever it is." He tested the word on his mouth, trying it out. He'd heard the others discussing this elixir many times at Sibuna meetings, but never once had he said it. The idea itself was too absurd.

"But Fabian is your best mate," Victor said, his voice calm. "Surely you must know something."

"Yeah," Mick shrugged, keeping the advice he'd heard from Fabian on the way up here in his mind: _Don't give anything away_. He had to keep the secrets of Anubis House safe, just like he said he would back in October. "But they kept a secret from me last year. I don't know anything. Honest."

—

Mara knew some, but of course she fought against their nosy housekeeper.

"It's impossible to send a dream!" She explained, moving her hands along with her words. "It goes against science. It's not possible."

After Mick had climbed down the stairs, he'd passed on the message to Mara: Don't give anything away. Victor was questioning everyone in the House, in search for the elixir of life. He was evidently determined to find it.

"I guess pigs have flown, Ms. Jaffray." Victor smiled a cruel smile, one that Mara could see right through.

"And even if...say, people could send dreams," Mara muttered, knowing she was treading on dangerous territory. If she gave anything away, their cover would be blown, and the entire search for Nina in Shadowland would be over. "Why would she send me a dream? I wasn't that close to her."

"You were taken," Victor reminded her, making her shiver. She hated being reminded of that day. "By the...well, you know who I'm talking about. He took you himself...you must know that the dreams are possible, and that they have been continuing. What do you know about them?"

"I don't know anything. And I'm smart enough not to give them to you."

—

Jerome was involved, but he didn't know enough to spill.

"No." Jerome stood his ground, sitting up straight in his chair, his eyes unwavering. "I refuse to speak."

"What do you know about the dreams, Clake?" Victor's voice was sharp now, growing more frustrated by the second. No one was giving him the answers he needed.

"Nothing," Jerome shrugged, his electric blue eyes staring down Victor's deep brown ones. "I know nothing. I will tell you nothing."

"Don't you want this to end?" Victor proposed, spreading open his arms in an inviting fashion, welcoming Jerome into whatever he was doing.

"Of _course_ I do," Jerome growled, unwilling to remove his gaze from Victor's face, staring down his old housekeeper. Jerome was never scared of him, and instead used him to his advantage, but now he had to keep secrets. He honestly did want all this to end, but he didn't want two people to die in the process.

"I know you're the Healer," Victor dropped the bomb, but Jerome didn't move. Didn't say anything. Just sat there, no emotion, nothing.

—

Alfie was one of the original five Sibunas, plus he cracked under pressure, so Sibuna feared for his safety when Victor called him to his office. He might be the one that would ruin everything, that would give all of their secrets away to someone who is working against them.

"Come now, Lewis. Spill."

"They told me not to," Alfie admitted weakly, feeling like he could've rocked back and forth in his chair. He'd never been alone with Victor since...well, the incident in the cellar when he was locked down here all night. Everything in the office kept reminding him of that, but he had other things to think about.

Sibuna to him was like family. They were the people who didn't care that he pranked with Jerome or got bad grades; they cared about what was underneath and liked him for who he was. He wasn't about to just give up on Sibuna now and spill all of their secrets.

"Don't listen to them," his old housekeeper persuaded, smiling sweetly. Fabian and the others had warned him of this, told him to not give into Victor's promises and temptations. "I know how to end this."

He couldn't deny his curiosity. "How?"

"Just give me the elixir."

"I can't!" Alfie exclaimed suddenly, a whole flashback of moments from last year overwhelming him. He remembered the dream he had only a few nights ago, when Nina proposed death was the way out of there, by somebody drinking the elixir. Now Victor wanted said elixir, and the ideas weren't pretty. "You'd...you'd do things with it!"

"YES I WOULD!" Victor screamed again, getting in the poor resident's face, but Alfie had had enough of the disrespect from Victor and Jerome and everyone else.

"I won't give it to you!" He finalized, finally feeling proud of himself. "I WON'T!"

—

Joy, of course, kept secrets. She didn't need to be told not to.

"You must have some information," Victor shrugged, scanning Joy Mercer up and down. "I mean, you were falsely accused of being the Chosen One last year, Ms. Mercer."

"Yes I was," Joy confirmed, her face nonchalant and calm. "Which is why I haven't been getting involved with the dreams. They're too risky. I don't take well to people who take my place and steal my best friend from me. I was here first. I don't have anything against her, but...I'm not getting involved with the dreams, nor will I help you kill someone."

—

Patricia provided silence. Nothing more, nothing less. She knew nothing about the dreams, so she provided silence, since silence was all she knew.

—

Amber was...different, to say the least. And she was the last.

"No," she contributed, trying to ignore the shake in her legs. She wouldn't give anything away. She wouldn't give anything away. _She wouldn't give anything away_.

"Edison said you and Rutter were the two most common people to get the dreams," Victor spewed the random fact, which in turn made Amber cringe.

"NO!" Amber exclaimed again, pushing herself out of her chair and slowly moving towards the door. She expected Victor to stop her, but he did not move from his desk. "I haven't been getting dreams and I know nothing about them! Now let me out!"

"No," Victor said simply, nothing else along with it.

"You're cruel, you know that?" Amber announced, feeling the tears at the edges of her eyes. Her legs shook more powerfully, and she closed her palms so they wouldn't give way. "CRUEL! Nina doesn't deserve that! I don't deserve this! You hear me?! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE TO DIE!"

—  
>—<p>

"YOU WERE RIGHT!" I boomed, storming down the stairs after waiting for all the questionings to finish, hiding out in Nina and Amber's room. All heads turned to me, and for a while I felt a slight anxiety rush; I didn't like receiving all this attention. Nevertheless, I continued on.

"They really were the ones who took Nina and they can get into Shadowland," I confirmed, watching everyone's different facial expressions as I told them what I had learned. "And Victor is going to be the one to drink the elixir to kill Nina, completing MIR's job."

A panic issued; Jerome and Alfie began to discuss something with Mara, since Jerome had apparently joined the group of Seekers, despite him being the Healer. Patricia appeared to be arguing with herself after what I had just announced, while Amber sat in the corner, biting the skin around her nails, tears streaming silently down her face.

I silenced them all despite the constant anxiety I was feeling, taking a deep breath and sitting down next to Patricia on the couch. "Did you get the Cup and elixir from the attic?" She asked me calmly, one of the only sane people in the group, surprisingly.

"Yeah," I nodded, but didn't say anything else. There wasn't really anything else to say...just that Victor had volunteered to be the one who would ultimately kill my girlfriend, the woman who had given me a backbone and showed me that life wasn't as boring as I thought it was. If there was one thing I had to do, it was get Nina out of there in time, before she lost her memory or lost her _life_.

"We can't let them kill Nina!" Amber spoke for all of us, standing up despite the tears on her cheeks. Again, all heads turned to her, but she didn't cower away like I did. Amber stood her ground, confident of what she was doing. "We have to get her out, _now_."

"As much as I'd love that, Amber," I intervened timidly. I got off the couch and moved closer to the blonde, encasing her in a huge hug where she rested her head on my shoulder. "You know we can't. We don't know how to solve the curse. She said—"

"To hell what she said!" Amber screamed again, probably attaining the attention of everyone else around us, upstairs, and in the other houses as well. "We haven't tested out the locket theory, but we're about to. And from what you've told me before, Fabian, the locket theory is going to prove true. If Victor drinks that elixir, this whole search will have been for nothing. I'd lose my best friend, and _I don't want to_. SHE'S NOT DYING, do you hear me?"

Amber's voice became a bit crazy for a second there, but she calmed down as soon as she saw all the shocked faces surrounding her, surprised at her sudden outburst. "Now, come on...it's time to test out that locket."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Wow another crappy ending that's different.**

**Today's Sunday and I have to write chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of INLILYOA or else I will hate myself. I reallly hope this wasn't too repetitive...if it was, tell me, and I'll try my best not to make the next chapter the same way! I'm about 3/8 done with the next chapter, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it in a few days, before the time comes. **

**I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and review maybe? Tell me if anything needs to be fixed, and plus leaving some kind words always makes me happy =) Anyway, have a nice rest of the weekend and see you on March 16th!  
><strong>


	52. NOTE

**Update**

**May 12th 2014:**

No, unfortunately, this isn't the chapter you may or may not have been waiting for for two months.

Why hasn't chapter 52 been up yet? There are many answers to that question. I'm not about to go and spill my entire life story over the past two months, but I'll give you a slight overview of things that have happened so maybe you can understand.

First of all, writer's block and laziness have contributed a ton. I got to this one point in chapter 52 and I just couldn't get past it. I tried rewriting. I tried writing different scenes. For some reason, I just could not get past that one chapter. And I know, it's a shit excuse, but it's the truth unfortunately. Luckily, though, the scene is almost done and I can finally move past it.

Another thing: My grandmother died in February and my uncle died in March. I found out my dad was cheating on my mom in April. They're currently in the middle of getting a divorce. I could say it's "personal problems" and while those things have affected me, they didn't influence my writing all that much.

Plus I've had two major computer complications since March and it was all very messy and annoying.

So basically, I have no valid excuse for not writing. And I'm so sorry if you were looking forward to the new chapter and never got it, because I'm a horrible person and author and make promises I can't keep.

BUT chapter 52 is almost finished and will be up soon, that I can promise.

Don't Be Afraid is going to end on chapter 60, however long that will take to get up. I have it all planned out, guys, and I know what's going to happen from now until the end. So it's not on permanent hiatus, nor will it ever be. I just had some...complications to take care of and hopefully May will turn out to be the best month of 2014 so far. Hopefully.

I know it's been 2 months since I last updated, so here's a brief overview of what happened last chapter: Fabian learned Victor was in on the dreams and he knew where Shadowland was and what it was. Nina told them to come in, but not until they had the answer to the elixir. Even though they didn't know it, they decided to go in anyway, and that's where chapter 51 ended.

_**THE CHAPTERS WILL COME QUICKER **_I swear to god they will. I swear on my love of Rose Dawson that they will come quicker. Don't Be Afraid will reach it's end on chapter 60 and I promise it's the best place to end it.

The complications are over now and writing is hopefully becoming easier, and thank you to anyone who stood by this silly little story and waited for the updates to come. Also, I'll keep this chapter up and delete it once the story is fully over, so you can review if you wish to.

So for now, farewell to anyone who read this, and have a nice evening :)


	53. With This Circle of Light

**A/N: Oh my god I wrote something. I wrote a thing I WROTE A THING. I FINISHED THE THING. I FINISHED CHAPTER 52.**

**It's been a LOOOOONG time since I last updated (Tomorrow will mark 3 months), so if you completely forgot what happened in chapter 51, all they learned was that Victor knew about their secrets and Shadowland, and the chapter ended with Fabian saying they had to find a way into there, and that's where this chapter begins.**

**I haven't proofread this, so there might be some mistakes, but I'm sorry. This story is finally getting back on track after countless months on hiatus, and while I couldn't be happier, I couldn't force myself to read over this and look for mistakes. In any case, I do hope you enjoy the chapter in case there ARE mistakes.**

* * *

><p>"How is this going to work?"<p>

"Shush!" I put my finger on my lips, to warn whoever had spoken to keep quiet. "I just need...to concentrate..."

Our group of nine teenagers was quiet for three more seconds, until Amber exclaimed, "But I just don't see how it's going to work!"

"And I won't figure it out, Amber," I sneered, turning away from the door in front of me and glaring at her, "if you don't keep quiet!"

"Sorry," Amber's voice was small when she apologized, staring at the floor morosely.

I felt bad about yelling at her, but now wasn't the time for guilt. I was in a warehouse, surrounded by eight other people, watching my every move. I was allowed to be a bit nervous, considering I was Fabian.

The eight other people were the residents of Anubis House, obviously, and we stood outside the door to Shadowland inside the warehouse where Patricia was held for a few days last year, when she was kidnapped by Rufus after the play. Before, Eddie had basically just confirmed for us that the locket was indeed the way into Shadowland, and now we were trying it out after days upon days of Nina telling us to do so.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing with it, so right now the chain was tangled around my fingers and I was inspecting the door, trying to find like an indent, or somewhere to put the locket in. I didn't know how it would work, considering Nina was the Chosen One and the locket only worked for her, but we'd figure it out in time.

"Eddie?" I called over to my roommate, gaining his attention. "Do you think you could...do you think you could help me out, here?"

"Oh!" Eddie exclaimed suddenly, pushing through the crowd to get to me. "Yeah. Sure. What do you need help with?"

"You've been getting in," I told him matter-of-factly. "You're the one that comes in every night. So how do you get in?"

'"It's always just unlocked," Eddie shrugged. "See?" To show me, he pushed on the door and unlike the day we were trapped in there, it didn't budge open. "It's not time for me to report to Paul yet. It's not unlocked, so I can't get in."

"So do we have to wait until nighttime?" I asked, my eyebrows arched.

"I don't think so," Eddie reasoned, turning his gaze back to the door. "I think he'd know if I brought a guest...I think he'd lock us all in again. I'm like 80% sure that the locket is the way to get in, though, so we should definitely try it."

"I just don't see how to get in!" I supported Amber from before, banging my palms on the door in front of us once. "How could the locked possibly work, if we're not the Chosen One, and the person that actually is the Chosen One is inside that door?"

Eddie sighed, shaking his head. "Dunno."

"Give it here," a different voice said suddenly. I turned my head to see Patricia, pushing her way through the crowd to get to me as well.

It took me a second, but then I realized that Patricia was trying to get me to give her the locket. By the time I realized that, however, Patricia's hands were already gripped around the locket. "No!" I protested.

"Why not?" She asked, but didn't loosen her grip on the object. "I might be able to figure it out."

"I just don't want you to have it!" It was a selfish reason, but Patricia hadn't gotten a dream. She didn't know what it felt like to be so close to Nina, but yet so far away, especially being me, her boyfriend last term. Patricia scoffed at my answer, pushed me aside and moved the locket towards the door, but I gripped it as soon as she pressed it onto the door with five fingers and the locket began to glow.

Glow. Like it did whenever it was about to open something last term, like the secret room in the attic secret passageway to the cellar or the Arabic dictionary that led us to "_Under the eyes of Horus, a globe and hollow lie. Two left for eternity, but just one left to die_". All of us, even the people that were simply watching us from the side, stopped what we were doing to watch the locket glow lightly.

"Why is it doing that?" A voice I indentified as Mara asked softly, the first thing any of us had said since the locket began to glow. "I thought it only glowed like that when it was about to—"

"Open something," Patricia and I said at the exact same time. As our gazes met, a jolt of realization coursed through me: this had happened before, but not in our hands. The locket was glowing, which meant it was opening something...and something was obviously the door."

"Amber," I called for her attention, which I gained immediately. "Come over here for a moment, please." Amber took in a deep breath, straightened her posture, and walked slowly over to us, since we were in the front of a crowd of seven other people. Her straight-as-a-pin blonde hair stayed perfectly still as she walked, until she reached us and arched her eyebrows like I had done before.

"Would you please place your hand on top of mine and Patricia's?" I asked her politely, my expression calm instead of panicked or begging. Neither of us were careful to disturb the silence of the warehouse, knowing Nina and Eddie's Worst and so much more was beyond this door, and we were close to opening it ourselves.

Without question, Amber inhaled another long breath of air before holding it in and placing her hand on top of mine, which was on top of Patricia's. As a result, the glow on the locket deepened, becoming a darker shade of purple than it was before. Something had changed in the atmosphere...I could feel it. Something was happening.

I smiled ridiculously and so did Amber, knowing that she had done her part. In response, the rest of the seven other Anubis residents rushed over to us, discussing within themselves about what had just happened, and what was about to happen.

Alfie placed his hand in next, following Amber so he could be on top of hers. Jerome followed Alfie, and Mara followed Jerome. There were six people holding the locket now, and the shade of purple radically changed from when it started. Eddie volunteered to place his hand in next, so of course Patricia had to follow. Patricia encouraged Joy to put hers in next, and of course since Mick was the last person, he had to be the last to place his hand in as well.

A loud cheer erupted from us, but it was soon silenced again by a _click_ from the door in front of us. Nothing more, nothing less, just a _click_.

Silence was predominant between the nine of us, since none of us truly knew what to do next. I knew something had changed, and that 'click' had just proven that. The only thing that had stayed a mystery was what the click meant for us, and whether it was good or bad.

Eddie decided to play risktaker and remove his hand first, immediately dismissing all of the other hands on the locket, since he was in the middle. His big, thick hands slowly pushed the door open, not making a single sound as it exposed more space, unknowable space that was allowing us to unlock it secrets, to find a way into the place we had been dying to get into for almost two months now. It was open wide, even though we didn't know the answer to the curse yet.

Eddie turned around, exposing his ecstatic expression. I didn't know what he was so happy about; I, personally, was terrified. If Amber wasn't here and she didn't wrap her arm around mine, I might have ran away screaming. "Are we ready to see this puppy?" He asked all of us, his gaze traveling from face to face, waiting for confirmation for all of us.

In such a short second, we had access into Shadowland. The locket theory _did_ work after all, as it had worked all of this time. With Amber's arm slung through mine, knowing she had to hang on to something concrete and secure, we were the last ones to step through the door and into the unknown.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>"What the hell are you doing here?!"<p>

She looked the same as I last remembered her, but _maybe_ with a few differences. The black and white sweater she wore on the first day here was also what she was wearing now, along with a pair of jeans. A concerned expression crossed her face, but I couldn't detect even a hint of happiness.

None of us said anything, but instead remained silent. Nina stood in front of us with casual clothes on, her eyes wide and unhappy. "Leave!" She announced, pointing behind us with her arm outstretched. "Now! He's going to come back soon and I don't want you to get hurt! Now go! Please!"

"Hey hey hey hey hey," Eddie soothed, pushing through us rather uncouthly and running ahead to Nina. Her took her head in his hands and shushed her. I didn't think she was crying, but her body shook softly and Eddie whispered comforting words. "It's okay. He's not here right now and nothing is going to happen to us."

I would think she'd be happy to see us, but now it just proved that she was too scared. I'd love to see her, but if she was too scared about something happening to us, I'd better leave. "But what if something does happen to them?" She asked shakily, trying to break free of Eddie's grasp, but he was too strong for her weak frame.

"Nothing is going to happen to us," he promised her, enveloping her in a hug. I watched their embrace, sort of selfishly and stupidly wanting to be the one that was hugging her. It had been so long since I had actually touched her. "I swear."

I turned away from them, looking to Patricia to see if I had to calm her down or not. I figured she'd be angry with Nina for not sending her a dream, especially now that she could see her and all. However, she seemed calm, almost; like the sight of Nina and her new friend Eddie was soothing to her.

Eddie whispered something in Nina's ear, and the two released their embrace. Eddie kept a comforting arm around her shoulders, but Nina's eyes met mine, and I finally saw the sadness in them. Maybe I'd never, _ever_ understand what she's been through during her time here, but I could tell all she really wanted was for us to go through the way we came and not to come back. She wanted us to be safe.

"Hi," Nina sniffled, rubbing her nose with her sleeve. Our gazes met, and neither of us turned away, like I expected them to. Instead, her saddened, red eyes held with mine, her shoulders sagging.

"Hey," I whispered, not truly knowing what to do. Here I was, finally in front of the girl who had given me a backbone and made me a better person, yet I couldn't even find the courage within myself to go up to her and give her a hug. She'd been suffering and crying throughout the nights, but she bounced on her heels and held on to Eddie's hand for dear life.

"So what's going to happen?" Amber spoke up, looking like she wanted to break the silence between the ten of us and go up and give Nina a hug as well, but she held herself back. "Like...what are we supposed to do? We know the locket works, obviously, but if we just came in here to test the locket out, what's the hurry to stay?"

I caught Eddie giving Amber the evil eye and chuckled, but Nina took in a deep breath before speaking again, addressing all of us around her. "I'm sorry for making all of you come in here, but if you don't mind, I have some things to discuss."

A quiet murmur drifted throughout Shadowland. As Nina and Eddie led the way inside the house, I couldn't help noticing the scenery: the plump, leafy trees that were losing its leaves as time marched on, the _crunch_ sound as we killed them with our shoes, walking over them. It felt strange to be here, somehow, like I was in a forbidden area.

I had been in Shadowland before, obviously, but never like this, with nine other people. On normal nights, it was just me and Nina, listening to whatever information she had to give me. Now she stood in front with Eddie, leading the way into the house, holding her arms behind her back. I knew that "people didn't really change", but she seemed different, somehow. Like her time in Shadowland had permanently changed her for good.

"What do you want to discuss?" Joy wondered, plopping down on the floor near the couch. Eddie had sat down on the three-person couch along with Joy while Nina took to the floor, so of course Jerome had to jump in there and steal the last spot before anyone else could. Nina and Eddie were at opposite ends of the circle, able to stare at each other while they talked about whatever they were about to discuss.

"Well, I'm guessing you tried out the locket theory?" I didn't want to say a single word; just hearing her voice, so commanding and sure of what she was doing felt _right_. She was always the person who knew what to do and where to go, how to do this and the reason why we have to do that, and I always followed. I trusted her more than anyone. It felt nice to be able to have a person of that girl back, the girl I knew before she was kidnapped. Maybe I could get her bac one day.

"Well, obviously," Amber announced again, desperate to get Nina's attention. Maybe it was just sheer amazement that we were all in Shadowland with her, and not one person was acting like this was extraordinary, but Nina just didn't seem to want to give Amber the attention she wanted from her. "But we know some other stuff, too. We've been collecting it all, in a Dream Log. Lately, the dreams have been scattered and such...but I know we'll piece it together in time."

Nina nodded quickly, but in Amber's direction. "Alright," she shrugged, glancing over at Eddie on the couch. Every head in the house turned to him, but soon moved back to Nina when she said suddenly, "Lay it on me."

"We got the Cup and the elixir from the attic," Mara spoke for all of us, facing Nina with dignity. At least she wasn't scared to talk. "We stored them in your room."

In turn, Nina nodded, listening closely. "The locket is definitely the way in, as we know that since we tried it only a minute ago. We know the teachers are involved, but we don't know how, when, or why...Nina?" Mara turned to the American for assistance, who's eyes widened when she realized she'd have to speak.

But she sucked it up anyway. "Yeah," Nina whispered, the sadness in her eyes deepening. "They're involved. Eddie...Eddie's Worst, or Paul as you know him, was basically...in...Mr. Winkler. He piloted his every move, including coming back and kidnapping me. I don't why any of this happened, but Jason got Victor and Sweetie involved as well, resulting in..." She gestured to the area around her, the dreary common room with cobwebs and a termite-eaten coffee table in the far corner of the room.

"Anything else?" Alfie decided to ask after a nudge from Mara. "Are we missing any more vital information?"

Nina blinked, before looking at the ground and contemplating his question. I honestly missed her, and all those times she _wouldn't_ think things through without going straight into it. Nina'd get us in trouble all the time, and unfortunately she couldn't lie to save a poor soul from eternal damnation.

"I don't think so," Nina said nonchalantly. "I think you've got it all. If you want, you can go back now—"

"No way!" Jerome, surprisingly, spoke up from his spot on the couch. "We still have so much to figure out. We're not leaving here until we have it all down to the last detail."

"You came in to find out if the locket works," Nina's eyebrows arched, her eyes narrowed. "Not to question me."

"Well, we're going to question you!" Amber yelled cheerily, like questioning was something to celebrate in a cheerleading routine. I had just had my butt grilled by Victor only about an hour or so ago; I didn't need Amber enforcing the idea that being questioned was good, especially if you didn't want to give away answers. "We just want to help you, Nina. Just know that."

"I know you do," Nina fixed Amber with a sympathetic and grateful look, admiration clear. "I'm sorry, Amber. I don't know anything to tell you...why would I keep you here, in a prison, when you could be happy and safe in Anubis House?"

"I'd rather be here with you," Amber admitted, sighing and staring down at the ground again. Alfie had thrown a comforting arm around her shoulders now, but no tears had come out; instead, the impact was an awkward silence, none of us knowing how to continue the conversation.

I desperately wanted to, though; I wanted to stay for hours upon hours, talking about our lives and the funny moments that had happened, or the stories that felt the need to be shared. I just wanted to talk with her, to touch her and be with her; I had gone much too long without Nina in my life, only appearing in dreams. Yet right now, I could physically touch her as she was sitting two meters in front of me, but I was too much of a chicken to do so.

I could say _FUCK EVERYONE_ and just spend the rest of my day with her alone. As much as I'd love to do that, though, I knew there were restrictions. No play, no fun, just work. Alfie couldn't goof off with Jerome here no matter how much he might want to. Instead, all we're talking about is the search at hand and things about it.

We discussed that too often; maybe, if we wanted to excavate new information, we needed to talk about something else.

"So..." I finally found the courage within myself to speak up, and a total of nine shocked heads turned my way, one of them being Nina herself. She smiled in return, grinning at me like I wasn't looking straight at her and no one else. "Nina, what have you done lately?"

"What?" Nina's happy look was replaced for a confused one, as soon as she realized what I had asked. "'What have I done lately'?"

"Yeah," I shrugged, trying not to care what the others thought of the question. I wanted to know what she had done lately around here, like if she had played Spit with Eddie in her spare time or stole weirdly-shaped pebbles from the garden. "Like...what do you do to pass the time?"

"Fabian, we don't have time for this question," Eddie interrupted, moving his gaze back and forth from me to Nina, never settling in one place. "We need to figure out, together, how to get Nina out of this place. We don't have time for willy nilly—"

"No, it's okay," Nina weakly smiled across the circle, forgetting to address anyone else in the room but me. "Um...well, obviously, I talk with Eddie when he comes in. I just kind of wander about the forest aimlessly. I sit...I think...I think about you guys...I think about home. I can skip a rock across the lake. I sleep. I eat. And that's...really it."

"And..." Mick decided to speak up, slowly raising his hand so every head turned to him. "Does...do the teachers tell you _who_ to send the dreams to?"

"They used to," Nina shrugged, seeming like the memories didn't haunt her whatsoever. "In the beginning, Paul would come in and tell me that 'I had to send a dream to Fabian tonight', or that 'Amber is the person who should get the dreams'. But then he stopped later in the month, and I just decided to do whatever I pleased. If I wanted to send a dream to Fabian, he'd get one. If I wanted to send a dream to _you_, Mick, _you'd_ receive a dream."

"So he stopped telling you who to send the dreams to?" Alfie wondered, and in response, Nina nodded again. "Wow...why did Jason do that? I mean, considering Jason was Paul back in the day. Did he get the teachers involved with that aspect, too? What do the teachers have to do with this whole shebang?"

"They come in sometimes," Nina shrugged, playing with her fingers. She seemed lonely to me.

"Who?" Mara wondered.

"Um...Mr. Sweet. Some blonde woman...she told me her name once. I forget it though. Jason came in...you know, before he di— passed away." Nina immediately corrected herself, but I saw no reason to. It was inevitable: Jason had died on Halloween. It was tragic, yes, but we had to move past it. "Victor comes in sometimes too."

I blinked, trying to take all of this in. Just when I thought we were alone in this search, no one could understand or even fight us, the teachers had to come in again and ruin everything. "Was the blonde woman named Kathleen?" Asked Jerome, leaning forward in anticipation.

Suddenly, Nina snapped, even though I already knew it was Mrs. Fitzgerald. "Yeah! That's her name!" She exclaimed, a small smile creeping on her face. Through it all, she still had to remain happy. She knew she had to.

And that was the worst part of it: having to remain happy when all you wanted to do was break down and cry into someone's shoulder, to have someone hold you so you know you're not alone. But Nina was alone for most hours of the day unless she was sending someone a dream, so if she felt like crying, she had no one to cry into.

The small smile remained, but the sadness in her eyes was clear. She had _no one_.

We were all silent for the next few seconds, not really knowing what to say next. "...Nina, did she do anything to you?" Amber asked slowly, her eyes as fragile as the girl's in front of her. Amber hated feeling this way...I knew that, at least. She wanted her best friend back.

The silence returned, but for a shorter amount of time this time around. "...No," Nina spit out the word much too fast. "Why would you think she'd do anything to me?"

"Because basically, she was MIR when she locked us in Shadowland. Then the nights after that, you didn't send us a dream for eleven days." Jerome stated again, his butt on the side of the couch.

"Oh," Nina finally realized the flaw in which she was saying, which only made me more suspicious. All I was concerned about at this current moment was her well-being. "Well, no. She didn't do anything to me."

"Are you sure?" It was me who spoke this time; I couldn't take being silent any longer. I knew I had spoken to her before and all, but we needed to sort things out between us.

It was hard to read her expression, since it varied. At first, I caught shock and horror, like she couldn't imagine talking to me again in fear that I may do something to her.

Just that simple thought was enough to send my heart plummeting to the bottom of my chest. "Yes," she breathed, unable to look me in the eyes for more than five consecutive seconds at a time. "She didn't do anything. Neither did Paul, when he was back to his...normal self, being Eddie's Worst and all. Nothing happened."

"But then why did you—" I tried to interrupt, but I didn't get very far.

"I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" Nina's words were faster than I'd ever heard her speak, rushing the words out for reasons unknown. After I nodded in agreement that I wouldn't talk about it anymore, silence ensued between all of us, since no words were being asked to be spoken. What was there to say, after all? Nothing good could come out of what was to happen. Even the slightest possibility of getting her out of here had become tedious, annoying, and repetitive, dream after dream after dream.

"Let's get down to business," Jerome spoke again, his butt still on the edge of the ripped couch. "We have to get Nina and Eddie out of here before something happens to them, because if we don't move fast enough, they could die."

None of us seemed shocked to hear that sentence, and that was just another thing to add to the list of things to be sad about. "We won't let that happen," Alfie continued, his expression confident and serious, but his eyes, just like Nina's, gave it all away. He was scared shitless. "Somehow, we're going to get both Nina and Eddie out of here alive. One way or another, we will achieve this."

"What if it's inevitable?" Joy wondered innocently, the first time she had spoken since coming in here. "What if there's no other choice for them to die? Everybody...everybody starts to die from the second they're born. What if fate is real and has everyone's end planned out for them? What if fate chose this way for both Nina and Eddie to die?"

"We won't let that happen!" Amber snapped, speaking in the place of Alfie. He seemed grateful that he didn't have to speak anyway, meanwhile Amber wore a look of complete and utter hatred. "Okay? No one is going to die. I refuse to let that happen."

"Yeah, but—"

"But nothing!" Amber's voice was rushed, just like Nina's. I didn't know why she was so determined to get her words out so quickly. "We'll do it somehow. I won't leave Shadowland without knowing how to get her out alive, so Nina, do _you_ know how to get out of here alive?" The blonde turned to face her brunette best friend, who seemed emotionless from where I was standing.

"Sort of," was Nina's immediate response, after swallowing saliva and trying to think of a good answer.

"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Jerome snapped.

"I mean...I have a vague idea," she mumbled, ignoring the rest of the group's expectant gazes pointed towards her. I couldn't imagine all the pressure they were putting on her.

"What's the idea?!" Patricia snapped, but Eddie sent her a glare stronger than metal, and she immediately shut her mouth.

"I don't know if it's gonna work—"

"Tell us anyway!" The group imploded, me and Patricia excluded. I didn't want to make her nervous, though with seven other teenagers yelling at her, I don't think it helped in the slightest.

"It might bring serious consequences—"

"Tell. Us. Anyway," Jerome said, his eyes fierce and unwavering. I supposed all he wanted was for us to finish this.

"Fine then," Nina's voice was harsh, like the screaming only made her angry. "I need you to go home and collect the elixir and the Cup."

"But we just hid them—" Jerome began again, but Nina held out a hand to stop him mid-sentence.

"I don't care. You told me to tell you, so I'm telling you." She snapped, her eyes just as fierce as Jerome's had been. Compared to the scared girl I'd seen in the past few dreams, she was much stronger, much more wise. It made me wonder what happened to her during the hours of day we didn't see her. "Just get them and hold on to the until I call you all back here."

"You mean like...coming back to Shadowland in the day like this?" Mara wondered thoughtfully, her tone much softer than any of the others.

"Not exactly," Nina shook her head, gazed down again, then refused to answer anything else.

"But then what—"

"Just listen right now, okay?" The anger faded from her eyes. "I might not send any of you a dream for a while. Just know that if anything is wrong, I'd send someone a dream, alright?"

I thought about that for a moment, that she might not send us any dreams for a long time. How much longer would it be before we truly knew how to finish this all? Days? Weeks? Months? It could be March before she sent any of us a dream again. She could _die_ before she sent any of us a dream again, and we'd all be waiting aimlessly for something that could never happen.

"But what if something was wrong and you couldn't send us—" Alfie began, in his spot next to Mara, his fellow Seeker.

"If anything is wrong, I will send you a dream, okay?"

"Okay..." He mumbled, sadness creeping into his eyes. I'd never seen Alfie upset; scared, yes, but not upset. He was always ecstatic and cheerful, never letting the day drag him down. Now, he seemed as upset as Amber was before.

"Now go," Nina suddenly told us, "if you stay here too long something may happen."

Without a question, we all dispersed, heading back to the door ahead of us, which would lead to the door to the warehouse. Even Patricia moved and left, Joy helping her walk and talk. Alfie and Amber held hands as they left, Alfie with his arm around her, whispering comforting words in her ear. I could only wonder what was going on in her head.

However, I stayed behind. I had unfinished business to sort through with Nina.

"Hey, Nina?" My voice was soft as I called her name, so as to make her know I wasn't angry and I wasn't going to hurt her.

Her back was facing me. When she turned, I saw her features: the lines under her eyes, her drooped shoulders, her bruised shins. It made me want to kick a wall to know how damaged she was, but whatever was damaged could also be fixed. We were the only people left in the room. "...Yeah?"

"Could I...stay and talk with you? Just for a little bit?" I asked her, biting down on my tongue.

I didn't want to scare her, but I definitely wanted to settle things between us...and maybe make-up after all our time apart.

"Yeah, sure." Nina smiled weakly, but I could tell she was trying to make an effort. I followed her into the other room.

* * *

><p><strong>o~~~o/**

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><p>Long story short, Nina and I made up. She explained that she only broke up with me because she was afraid something might happen because of our relationship status. I told her that I missed her more than anything, which she agreed to; after she hugged me, she gave me a soft peck on the lips, before exhaling and walking away.<p>

I didn't know if that meant we were in a relationship again or not, but neither of us were holding a grudge anymore, so that had to count for one thing.

I could only remember two of the things from our conversation in Shadowland clearly: that Nina wanted us to hold on to the elixir and the Cup for unknown reasons, and that if anything was wrong, she'd send us a dream. My suspicions were confirmed about her statement when I didn't receive a dream that night, or the night after that.

Winter Break was slowly approaching, and we didn't have much time left. If we stalled any longer, Nina and Eddie might die or get their memories erased. We only had a limited amount of time left in the hourglass.

As the days dragged on, time seemed to move faster, somehow. Sibuna held meetings every single day, about whether or not any of us received dreams, and we tried to piece together the clues. We tried to find a way to remove the curse and get her out, finishing this once and for all. We'd all had enough of the sleepless nights to last us a lifetime. School limited our time and Eddie and Patricia proved to be annoying together, but eventually he started helping us instead of opposing us.

Then the 23rd came around.

Or, should a say, never came around. Because on the night of the 22nd, all Mick talked about was how he was going to spend his Winter Break, since the break officially began on the 24th. None of us had received a dream or talked to Nina since the 13th.

But on the morning of the 23rd, _none of us_ woke up.

I found myself in Shadowland, a place I had visualized countless times within the past week and a half. The only reason I knew this was a dream was because of the way I landed on my feet: unsteadily, but I knew enough about the dreams to know how to land properly.

Then I realized I wasn't alone.

Everyone else in the House, including Patricia, was here with me. They all glanced around with confused gazes, realizing that we all, in fact, were here together, trying to piece that information into an understandable statement.

"This is it," I was the first to speak up, gaining their attention. "This is the final dream."

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><p><strong>AN: OKAY SO THAT ENDING WAS HORRIBLE because I rushed it in about 10 minutes, but now the chapter is finished. Finally. It only took me 3 months.**

**The next chapter, 53, I can honestly say WILL BE UP BY NEXT WEEK. I swear on Rose Dawson that chapter 53 will be up by June 15th. I'm currently in the middle of writing chapter 54 but I'm hoping I can finish it by Friday. In any case, chapter 53 is finished and will be up, that I swear to you.**

**Also, concerning my writing: I'm currently writing two Anubis fics: one is an angsty Fabina one-shot, and another is a multichapter with Peddie and Fabina that should be up next weekend. The multichapter is the one most people voted for on my "Help Needed" thing I posted a week ago, so I hope some people are looking forward to that!**

**I'm so so so sorry that I took so long, but as explained before, I was having a lot of problems and it took me 3 months to finally sort through them. I'm grateful to anyone who stuck around, though, and maybe you can review as a welcome back present? ;)**


	54. I Seal the Circle of Life

**A/N: Yes I missed a week oops but I'm lazy and here we are now so! This is the main climax and basically the last chapter (we have 7 chapters after this but it's basically all an epilogue).**

**Also don't trust a word I wrote in this chapter. Don't trust it. One single word. I do hope you enjoy it, in any case. Just don't trust a single word I said. Not one. I warned you.**

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><p><strong>o~~~o/**

* * *

><p>"A dream?" Mara asked, abandoning Jerome's arm to come look at me with confusion. "What do you mean? We're all here. We get the dreams separately. This can't be a dream."<p>

"Nina said that if anything was wrong, she'd send us a dream, remember?" I thought back to the 13th, when Eddie took us all into Shadowland to discuss our plan of action. Nina didn't tell us much, only that we should collect the Cup and elixir, which was in my bag.

"Yeah, she said _one of us_," Alfie questioned, having learned from Mara. "She'd tell us if anything was wrong and any new information we needed to know. Maybe we just fell asleep and forgot we came in here? Is it even possible to send all of us a dream at the same time?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, my breathing rate speeding up by the second. I began to feel my heart beat pounding in my chest, as I overlooked the familiar setting of Shadowland: the house to the north, the forest to the east, and the staircase behind us that led to the portal inside the warehouse. That was the only way in here, unless one of us received a dream. The 13th was only time ever that all of us had been inside.

Now, it was the day before Winter Break, the 23rd. It had been over two months since Nina was originally taken off the side of the road by Mr. Winkler, over two months since I received my first dream after finding Nina's locket on the forest floor.

I tried to put all the pieces together. On the 13th, during our chat in Shadowland, Nina told us she'd send one of us a dream if something was wrong. This dream, the one we were all in now, was the first one any of us had gotten since then, but instead of one person getting it, all of us did, and Nina was nowhere to be found. Was something wrong and she wanted us to know? Did we have to find her? I still had the Cup and elixir in my bag, just like Nina told me to do.

The first dream since the 13th and all of us were here. Cup and elixir in my bag. Nina nowhere to be found, as well as Paul, since he was scheduled to be in here at this time of day. Eddie was here with us, but he seemed just as confused as the rest of us, probably having no clue about what the hell was going on.

I went through the Dream Log entries in my mind, since I didn't have it with me. We learned that we should have figured out the answer to the curse before trying out the locket theory, which we...almost did. The locket theory proved true, but I still wasn't positive as to the answer to the curse, which would ultimately allow Nina to leave without severe consequences to either her or us.

Obviously, we were all in one big dream. I had the Cup and elixir, but what was I supposed to do with it?

It was just then that a piercing scream echoed through throughout the dimension.

Silence fell upon all of us on the concrete. "What was that?" Amber asked, a slight tremble in her voice. I was just as afraid as she was over the possibility of that scream uttering from the mouth of the person we were aiming to find.

Nina could be in great danger now, and we might be too late. I knew we were running out of time; the dream I had a few days ago proved that, when Eddie told me that Sibuna didn't work faster, both his and Nina's memories would be erased, and/or they'd both be killed. I couldn't allow either of those things to happen.

We were so close; _Nina_ was so close to us. The Cup and elixir were tied to the answer to the curse somehow, I knew that much. I had no time to lose. I could get her back.

I could get her back. I could end this. _I could get her back_.

"It's okay," I assured Amber, trying to calm the shake in my legs, but they were shaking so violently it felt like I was standing in the middle of a snowstorm with jeans on. "We'll...we'll get to her in time. I swear we will. Mara, Alfie, what do you suggest we do?" I addressed the two Seekers, because they were supposed to have the answer to everything.

Mara was just about to open her mouth and speak, but closed it only one moment after. "I don't know," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I have no idea. I wish that I could know, but...I don't."

"How do we know that the scream we just heard didn't belong to her, then?" I asked, my tone unchanged. It still shook with my legs. "How do we know that Paul isn't torturing her as we speak? How do you not know? If you don't know, then we have no clue about what to do next and I — oh — what do we do?!"

By now, Amber was cowering in Alfie's shirt, but Alfie looked just as distressed as his girlfriend. "I'm sorry, Fabian," Alfie apologized quickly, but his voice shook with every word. "I...I have no idea where Nina could be. She...she has to be here, though! She can't have gone far! If we just split up, we—"

One moment after, the world around me went black. I heard another scream, but this one was close and familiar: Amber, shrieking in fear, as the lights around us finally blew out. It was the middle of the night with all of us in a dream, the lights were out, neither Mara nor Alfie knew what to do, and the other people around me were just as terrified as I felt.

"RELAX!" I heard another voice — Jerome's — shout over the madness. It even calmed me down a bit, even though I couldn't physically see his face because of the blackout. "We are going to be fine. If we walk slowly, we're bound to find the house. If we find the house, then we find Nina, and we can end this—"

Another scream ripped through the air. It was much different than Amber's shriek, or Mara's cry, or even Patricia's yelp. It was a different type of scream...a tortured scream...a scream that was new, one that I hadn't heard before...

"STOP IT!" The voice screamed again, making me freeze on the spot. I knew it was Nina from the second the scream was uttered; it was coming from the house after all. The forest to the right and the staircase behind us, all of which none of us could see, were empty. Nina was in the house and she was in trouble. "JUST STOP!"

As all of us were silent, we could hear the other voice perfectly. It wasn't screaming like Nina was, but it was so cold, so empty and cruel that it made my skin tingle. Paul. "Do you know what you did?!"

"NO!" Nina screamed again, and even in my frozen state, I rooted her on in my mind. She was fighting back, after all this time. If I could only see the other's faces, I would know how they felt as well, but it was too dark for me to see anything else. There were no lights from the house in front of us, either. It was completely dark; how on _earth_ were we going to find Nina?

I heard silent, quiet, but panicked breathing coming from beside me. I immediately marked that person as Amber, and if Amber was next to me, so was Alfie and Mara. Jerome was to my left, while Mick was most likely cowering next to Mara, and who knows where Patricia was. Amber was panting; it was quiet at first, but as time wore on, the panicked breathing escalated into what could almost be hyperventilating.

"They're here, you scum," Paul spoke again, almost silent, but loud enough that we could hear him from outside. "Your friends are here. I saw them. Did you send a dream?!"

"YES!" Nina yelled once more, but right after, I heard a pained yelp come from in front of us. I could only imagine that maybe Paul slapped or kicked her, and while I cringed at the thought, I knew he could do worse to her. He wasn't torturing her now. "Yes, they're here," Nina spoke again, and I could almost hear the smile in her voice. "I called them all here."

"But you know what's going to happen to you," Paul spoke. It was a statement and a question at the same time.

"Yes, I know what's going to happen to me. But they all need to be here for them to end this."

"Very well. I hope you enjoyed your time here, Chosen One, because it's about to be over. Your suffering can finally end, and I will be...over as well. So I hope you're happy."

"Oh, I'm beyond happy," Nina said, but I could hear the sadness leaking through. "It's been much too long. It's time to end this."

The two were silent, as well as everyone else out front. It was then that the lights came back on. As soon as they did, I did a face count: everyone was here. Amber was holding on to Alfie as if he was a lifeline, Mick was cowering behind Mara, Patricia's eyes were wide as she stood behind me with Joy holding her hand; Jerome's expression was blank to my left; Eddie, all alone, his eyes empty, was standing much behind me; and I was shaking like a leaf in a tornado.

_It's time to end this_.

Nina was in the house. We were all in the last dream. This wasn't like last year, when we were all excited about finally arriving at the last clue; no, this was much more dangerous. Deaths were possible. Excruciating pain was to follow. _It's time to end this_.

"Let's...let's split up," Mara's voice, extremely small, spoke up. Alfie, the other Seeker, stood beside her. "It...it will be easier to find her if we split up."

"I'm not going alone!" Amber exclaimed, probably much too loud. "I REFUSE to go alone. I can't. I'm too scared."

I was scared too. I wanted to tell her that, but I was half sure I made it obvious from the shaking of my legs. "We won't go alone," Mara promised blankly, "I swear. We'll...we'll split up in two. I'll go with Alfie, obviously—"

Alfie told Mara that wasn't a good idea, that the two Seekers shouldn't go together. So we made the pairs:

Mara would go with Mick, because she would have a vague idea of where to go, and Mick had none.

Amber would go with Patricia and Joy, since they had been a team from the start. Hopefully, I only prayed, they wouldn't lose their senses. If Amber was deaf and Patricia was blind, that would only cause more problems. Joy was only tagging along.

Jerome would go with Alfie, as Alfie was a Seeker, and they'd probably have a vague idea of where to go as well. Jerome was the Healer; if someone was hurt, he could help them.

Eddie would go alone. He was the Osirian, the Chosen One's born protector. Plus, Paul was his Worst, so if they came face to face, I knew they had to be alone. It'd be okay, I figured; Eddie was a tough cookie. He could handle himself. And if found Nina first...well, that would be better.

I would go alone as well.

I was okay with that. I had been alone my entire life before Nina came along, and plus, I didn't want anyone to see my panicking. I needed time to sort through everything, to think about where Nina may be in that house myself. I would be fine, Eddie would be fine, and all the other groups would be too.

This was it.

This was the ending.

After all this time, after all those sleepless nights and Sibuna meetings and Dream Log entries and the fear of going to sleep, we were finally ending this. We were splitting up to search for Nina, to lift the curse, to get her out of here and return to normal life.

No mysteries.

No dreams.

We could get her back. We could end this. _We could get her back_.

This was it.

This was the ending.

And I couldn't be more afraid.

* * *

><p><strong>—<strong>

* * *

><p>Eddie Miller stood outside the house in front of him, fog clouding his vision. He stood with his fists clenched at his sides, and his lips pursed. He had tricked the others by saying he'd be searching for Nina, while in reality he'd be doing something completely different.<p>

"Edison. How nice to see you again."

Eddie turned around, only to see a face he'd grown familiar with in the past month: Paul. Of course, it wasn't necessarily Paul; inside of him, commanding Paul to do whatever he said, was Eddie's Worst: the worst part of himself had escaped when he'd committed a crime back in America, then inhabited Jason and kidnapped Nina. Paul had only been the next victim.

"You're _me_," Eddie spat angrily, trying to calm the shake in his hands. He couldn't stand the face in front of him, because he'd caused both Nina and himself so much pain and grief. He wanted to see him _gone_. He wanted to see his dead body. "You see me all the time, since you _are_ me."

"I'm not in the mood for sarcasm, boy," Paul retorted quickly, staying put instead of getting in Eddie's face. "I'm curious to know _exactly_ why you are here."

"To bring an end to _you,_" Eddie said simply, telling himself to _stop shaking, you're only talking to yourself, he can't hurt you_. However, it didn't necessarily help. He was shaking with fear just as hard as Fabian had been before.

"Bring an end to _me_?" Paul asked, with mock shock. He had put his hand on his chest, as if he thought Eddie was the cutest little thing. "Boy, if you bring an end to me, you kill _yourself_ as well."

"I know," Eddie shrugged, taking a deep breath. He knew he had to stay strong. "I also know Nina's gonna die today. I'll die later."

"And you're _okay_ with dying? What about your family? Your friends?" Paul asked, almost genuinely. Eddie almost wanted to answer and say that he wasn't okay with dying; he still had his whole life to live. He wanted to go to California and see the Golden Gate Bridge. He wanted to go to London and ride around on one of those big red buses because his father had told them they would when he was younger.

"My friends don't care about me," Eddie answered, honestly, his eyes on the ground. "They only talk to me because I'm the gateway to getting Nina back. My mom hates me and my dad barely knows me, so why would anyone care about my death?"

Again, Paul put his hand to his chest. Eddie wanted to stab a knife through it. "Aww, poor Miller. He has no one who cares about him, so he's going to die later in the year so the others won't have to suffer. You're a true hero, boy. You'd go to Elysium if that stuff was actually real."

"Nah. I'm going to hell," Eddie admitted, smirking. "But Nina's not. She was actually good and she doesn't deserve to die because you need to fulfill your 'mission'." He said, making air quotes around the last word. He knew he was going to hell after all the horrible things he'd done, but Nina was a good person. She'd go to 'Elysuim', or Heaven, or wherever the good people went when they died.

She'd be reunited with her friends in death. It would take a while, he knew, but at least the long, long years of waiting would pay off and she'd be reunited with them in death.

"Maybe she doesn't deserve to die, but I'll be granted eternal happiness and bliss, and the others will suffer as well. Everything will work out in my favor." Paul grinned evilly, finally walking and sticking his head in Eddie's face.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked, thinking about what Paul had said only moments before. A confused expression crossed his face, before he stepped out of Paul's range. "The ones at Anubis House won't suffer. They won't have dreams anymore. They'll be happy, and...I'm sure that's what Nina wants. She wouldn't be dying today if it didn't mean they wouldn't get to be happy."

"You really think they'll be happy?" Paul's grin was as evil as ever, but his voice had a hint of happiness in it. "Nina is going to die today. You think they'll be fine with that? You don't think that Fabian, who has been in on this search for longer than anyone else, would be happy with his precious little 'girlfriend' kicking the can after all they've been through?"

Eddie swallowed some saliva down his throat, staring at Paul. This was the man who had handcuffed Nina to the bed, forbidding her from sending dreams, because Paul himself was too lazy to lock the door to Shadowland, allowing the ones at Anubis House to walk in. He had done some horrid, unforgivable things to both her and Eddie.

He _hated_ him. And if Paul was honestly himself, he hated himself, then. Eddie had always hated himself.

"You think that they won't blame you?" Paul purred, smirking as he circled him in the fog, in front of the house. His footsteps echoed as he stepped on the stone floor. "I know they will. They'll never talk to you again, because after all, you're Nina's protector."

"I'm protecting her by letting her die," Eddie growled. "That's something you'd never understand."

Paul shrugged. "Fabian wouldn't understand either. He loved her...even I could see that. So if you think for one minute that Fabian won't hold a grudge against you for the rest of his life because you let his first love die, think again. He'll never forgive you. Amber Millington will burst into tears anytime you come into the room. She'll shove you and call you names because _you_ let her best friend die. You're sitting in the seat where _she_ should be sitting. They'll never accept you again."

He thought about that for a long, long time.

He could imagine Amber screaming at him, just like Paul had described. He'd sit down in the chair where Nina once sat, and suddenly Amber would start screaming.

_"GET OUT!"_ He could imagine her saying. _"YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND! SHE'S NOT COMING BACK, AND YOU'RE THE REASON WHY! HOW DARE YOU? GET OUT!"_

He felt his chest drop six stories just by thinking about it. Amber and Nina were as close as Patricia and Joy were, if not closer. If Amber knew Nina was actually dead, and she couldn't come back, how would she react? Would she shove Eddie out of Nina's chair and hit him across the face? Would she run up to her room crying and lock herself in there for hours?

Then, Eddie could imagine Fabian staring at him with a look of scorn. He wasn't saying anything, but the emotions on his face were enough to send Eddie into a guilt trip. There was hope there on his face, but also a hollow feeling, as if Fabian would never recover from the loss of his best friend and his first love.

Patricia would shake her head at him any time he came in the room; Alfie and Jerome would call him unrepeatable names because of what he had to do; Mara would walk away slowly, as if Eddie was to be feared; Mick would simply ignore him; Joy would follow Patricia but know it was all Eddie's fault; Amber would yell and scream at him, and blame him for anything that could ever have to do with Nina's death; and Fabian would torture Eddie slowly just by looking at him.

Nina was going to die, and Eddie had to be the reason for her death.

It was the only way out of here.

Nina would die today, the 24th of December, 2011. All that time spent locked away in Shadowland and she wouldn't even get to experience Christmas or see the first sunrise of 2012.

Eddie would die later on, of course. As the Osirian, his fate was already laid out for him. He'd be grateful to die, though; all of Anubis House would despise him and his family hated him and since Nina would be dead, there'd be no real reason for him to exist anymore.

They'd both be dead by the end of the school year. He could feel himself growing closer to Patricia...there was a spark buried deep underneath there, he could feel it. But with what he was about to do today, and with his death in a few months, nothing could ever come of them.

This was the end. Nina was going to die, and Eddie had to be the reason for her death. This was the end.

He heard a cry of help come from somewhere deep inside the house in front of him, and he knew that the final chapter had begun.

* * *

><p><strong>—<strong>

* * *

><p>The first thing heard between the three of them was a small whimper, and both Jerome and Alfie knew it wasn't from the other. Nina Martin, the person Anubis House had been searching for for over two months, was standing in front of them.<p>

Her posture wasn't straight and the confidence she was known for had dissipated over the 68 days that she had been locked in here. Jerome and Alfie, both glued to the spot in shock, watched as Nina sucked in a shaky breath and muttered, "Please go away."

They couldn't see her correctly in the dim light of the room surrounding them. When Alfie and Mara had staked out the warehouse over a month ago, Mara had given Nina a black and white striped sweater and jeans, the same clothes she had arrived at Anubis House in, and they were the clothes she was wearing now. Her skin seemed fine to the naked eye, but Alfie knew too much; he knew what lay underneath the sleeves of her sweater.

What were they do? Neither of them anticipated having to be the ones to find her. They both believed, by either sheer dumb luck or fate, that Fabian would be the one to find Nina. They'd reunite, he'd break the curse, MIR would disappear, and it would all go back to normal.

Now, Jerome and Alfie stood in front of her, her legs shaking in fear. She was afraid of them.

"Nina," Jerome said softly, being the first to move forward. "Nina, don't be afraid. We're not here to hurt you."

"Just please go away," Nina muttered under her breath, staring at the floor beneath her. "You can't be here. Please leave."

Jerome, in turn, decided to take bigger strides to approach her. She stood while holding her arms behind her back, but the moment Jerome stood within five feet of her, her hands came from nowhere and pushed him away, telling, "GET AWAY!" and Jerome could do nothing but let himself be pushed, strands of dirty blond hair falling in front of his eyes.

She had pushed him away. He was the Healer, the one who could mend any break or cut, and she had pushed him away.

Alfie approached Jerome and put a supporting arm around his friend a moment after, but Jerome could only stare at Nina. She had taken a few strides backwards, her arms crossed across her stomach, her chest moving up and down with her long breaths. Her breaths trembled with her legs.

That was the moment Jerome knew it wasn't a joke; Nina was honestly terrified of them, but neither Jerome or Alfie had done anything to hurt her. Here they stood with full intentions of helping her but all she had done was — literally — push him away.

Jerome and Alfie shared a long gaze. They exchanged thoughts and ideas within the minuscule seconds they looked at each other. There were so many options to pick from, but if they happened to choose the wrong option, everything would come crumbling down on them. Nina was already terrified of them; neither wanted to make it worse than it already was.

While Nina stood, alone, Alfie sucked in a breath and took one step towards her. Nina immediately looked up and met his eyes, which were practically screaming at him to back away and leave her alone.

Alfie had learned many things from Sibuna, and one of them Nina had taught him herself: be the bravest you could be.

Nina was begging him to go away, all with facial expression, but he couldn't just yet. He dare not intrude on dangerous territory, so he held his hands up in the air so she knew he wasn't a predator.

"I'm not going to harm you," he promised, his words coming out slowly, but it was as if his sentences were going through one of her ears and out the other. "I swear. We're going to help you, Nina. We're going to get you out of here. Today will be your last day of hell, I promise, if you'd just help—"

"You can't get me out of here," Her voice was small; so quiet that Alfie had to focus on it exclusively to hear it.

"Well, we're going to," His voice was firm and strong, like the walls that surrounded them. While her eyes faced the ground, Alfie took a chance and advanced on her; taking baby steps, of course, but his hands were outstretched, all so she knew that no one was going to leave a mark on her body. Not today. "I don't care what you say. We're finishing this, here, now, once and for all."

"Yeah," Jerome agreed, catching up with Alfie from behind. "We're finishing his today, Nina, whether you like it or not."

"Just go away," Nina cried softly, her hands balling into fists to stop them from shaking.

"We're not going to go away!" Jerome exploded, but as soon as Nina whimpered and stepped back in fear, he immediately knew it was a bad idea. Here was a girl who had been exposed to physical and mental abuse for the past two and a half months, someone who had probably been yelled at thousands upon thousands of times.

Jerome yelling at her probably wouldn't help the cause, but he needed to get his point across. "We're trying to help you! God damnit, Nina, _we're not going to hurt you_!"

Suddenly, she lifted her head from the ground and caught their eyes. Jerome was shocked to find that they were no longer filled with fear and dread, but instead replaced with knowledge and courage. "If you want to help," Nina said, her breaths quick and short, "then give me the elixir."

"We don't have the elixir," Alfie said suddenly, trying to think of two things at once. At first, the world seemed to slow down once she had screamed and shoved Jerome away, but now everything was moving in fast-forward. "Fabian does."

"Oh," she sniveled, clutching her sweater for support, looking like she was about to collapse.

"I can call him!" Alfie yelled suddenly, almost hitting himself in shame. How come he hadn't thought of this before? "FABIAN! COME QUICK! WE NEED THE ELIXIR! NINA'S HERE AND—"

"No!" She exclaimed, her eyes widened with fear. "No, stop! Please! You can't call him!"

"Why can't I call him?!" Jerome boomed, only scaring Nina further. "They're probably already on his way! Work with us here, Nina! You're safe! We've got you." He grabbed her arm in reassurance, but she only cringed instead of pushing him away. "We've got you," he promised again, "we won't let go. All you have to do is pull yourself up."

"I need the elixir," she repeated, almost silently, and while Alfie nodded beside him, Jerome stared at the ceiling above him as he pieced he puzzle together. He didn't know what the two of them were speaking about, but Jerome took two and two and finally came out with four after weeks of coming out with five.

It made perfect sense: Victor creeping off to the cellar in the middle of the night, secret chats with Eddie and Mr. Sweet after school, talking about the Cup of Ankh even though they all thought it was destroyed...it all came together perfectly. Nina, however, _was_ asking for the elixir to finish the search; but by finishing the search, she would be killing herself. Nina was asking for the elixir in a suicide mission.

"_We're not going to let you die_!" Jerome's sudden outbreak shocked Nina, to say the least. "How dare you think we'd just let you go like this! This is our final dream, and _we're not leaving without you_!"

He glanced to Alfie, who seemed scared but confident enough to agree with him. Alfie was a Seeker; he was supposed to know the answer to every question, the solution to every problem, but he stared at Nina with an amount of sympathy he hadn't shown for anyone besides Patricia.

And just like that, Nina took the first step away, towards the back of the room.

"What are you doing?" Alfie asked softly, any anger that had resided in his expression had now faded. "Where are you going?"

She continued to walk backwards, her eyes expressing fear and none other than. "No," she whispered, her chest moving up and down rapidly. "No. Get away."

The words, spoken by Nina, were soft as Alfie's had been but they echoed in Jerome and Alfie's heads, bouncing against their brains and pounding in their eardrums. 'Get away', she had said...as in, she wanted them to leave her alone on her deathbed and let her die in peace, not even bothering to try and let Jerome and Alfie figure out a solution. Jerome was the Healer and Alfie a Seeker...somehow, someway, they had to figure out a solution somehow.

Death was not the answer. But to Nina, it obviously was, and now it was their duty to make sure it wasn't. Jerome held his hands up, in the air where Nina could clearly see them, but not approaching her in any way. She was headed toward the back wall, near the door. He tried to say, "It's okay—"

"GO AWAY!" She screamed, louder than any one of them combined. The tears started coming right after, and Nina didn't even try to stop them. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Nina—"

"PLEASE!" She screamed desperately, tearing Alfie's heart in two. Here was Nina, the leader of Sibuna, helpless and defenseless to a pair of useless, goofball teenage boys. She was scared of two harmless pranking boys, of whom she had lived with for over a year in the past. She knew of these boys, but yet she was terrified of them, as if the past few minutes hadn't happened. "JUST GO AWAY!"

"Listen to me," Jerome's voice was firm and unwavering, as it had to be in this moment. He was sure that Alfie was just as miserable about the current situation as he was, but they had priorities.

Neither could lie and say they didn't see the utter fear in Nina's gaze, but she stopped moving backwards once she hit the wall behind her. Even with Jerome and Alfie's hands in the air, she shook her head slowly. "No," she murmured under her breath, cowering into her hands to shield herself from them. "No, no, no. No. Please don't come any closer. Please just go away."

She slid down the wall, her hand over her mouth in an attempt to condense her sobs. Jerome stared, wanting to help but not knowing how; he was the Healer. He should know how to help her, or at least calm her down. She shouldn't be cowering from them like this, afraid that they'd hurt her or kill her or god knows what else.

But just when Jerome leaned down, with his hand out in a comforting gesture, Nina yelped, but Jerome hadn't even touched her yet. Nina started to breathe quickly and heavily, and a quick glance upwards revealed everything Jerome had feared...everything that had opposed them for the last two months, was right in front of them.

"Miss me, eh?" Paul winked, tightening his grip on Nina's arm, making her wince. "Well, you won't miss me for much longer. This will finally end. Call all your friends, and tell them to meet me outside this house, right now, or the girl will suffer."

And then he was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>—<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>[Back to Fabian's POV]<strong>

"It's us, Nina. Don't be afraid."

But I could tell she was very, very afraid.

"I need the elixir," she breathed out, panting slightly. I watched her face: her eyes darted around to everyone in the area, never settling on one of us.

I wanted her to look at me. I wanted her to settle on my face, let her soak in my features. I wanted her to be comfortable with me and feel assured by my presence like she did last year.

"Fabian," I heard a voice — Joy's — say quietly. She was shaking my shoulder lightly. "You have the elixir. Give it to her."

"No!" I protested, spinning around to face her, shaking Joy's hand off my shoulder. "No! I won't give it to her! Nina, you can't do this!" I turned back to Nina in front of me, my voice leaking with desperation. I held my gaze on Nina, which — surprisingly — she held. I stared into her eyes, but it was anything but romantic.

"Please just give it to me," she pleaded, exhaling loudly. "I need it. Please, Fabian."

I ignored her outstretched hand and hid my bag behind my bag, which held the elixir she wanted. "No," I repeated firmly. "I won't give it to you. I _won't_ let you get killed."

"Please," she pleaded again, letting the tears fall. "You don't understand. I need it. Just give it to me."

My legs were shaking again. I didn't know if it was from fear or anger, but I knew one way or another I wouldn't let her die. She had people who cared about her.

I looked around at all of us: Jerome and Alfie were standing side-by-side, looking completely freaked, probably from their encounter earlier; Joy was still behind me from where I pushed her off; Patricia and Amber, much to my surprise, were holding hands, meanwhile Amber was already crying; Mara was near Alfie and Mick was all the way behind.

We were all here.

I knew this was the final dream.

It was now or never. I either saved Nina's life, or I let her die. But the problem was I didn't know _how_ to save her life.

"I won't give it to you," I repeated, my eyes firm and unwavering. "We'll get you out. I promise."

"You can't," Nina's voice shook with her hands, staring at the ground now. "Just...just stop..."

"But we—"

"JUST STOP!" She suddenly exclaimed, scaring all of us. "Just stop. You _can't_ save me."

"We'll try!" Joy suddenly spoke up from behind me. She was being unexplainably brave. "We'll try. I know it's possible!"

"It's _NOT_ possible!" Nina protested yet again, making my chest ache. She wanted to die; she wanted us to live in a world where we knew we let her die when we could have saved her, and I knew all she wanted us was for this to end but I knew there had to be a way. There was _always_ a way out for those who were clever enough to find it.

We were clever enough. _Sibuna_ was clever enough.

"Nina, listen to me," I spoke fiercely, enough to draw her attention. "I _don't care_ what you have to say about this. We are _getting you out of here_ even if it takes the rest of the week. We've come this far! There _has_ to be a way out if there's a way in!"

"Why can't you just understand?" She asked, her voice no more than a whisper. "Why can't you just _listen_ and _leave_? I've told you already! THERE'S NO WAY OUT OF HERE SO JUST LEAVE! IT'LL BE BETTER FOR YOU!" And with that note, her head dropped into her hands and she tried to calm her sobs, but the tears fell and her voice shook with the unstableness of the words. "Just...just go...I don't know why you're wasting your time...just please go...p-please...I want you to go..."

I knew what would happen if we were to go, and I wasn't allowing that to happen. But just as I was about to assure her, in a calm tone, that we'd figure it out somehow, a familiar figure walked into the scene.

"What are you doing here?" Amber yelled, mostly in anger, but fear lingered in her tone somewhere. "GET OUT!"

"Oh, silly girl," the voice I knew all too well purred, placing his hand on Nina's arm. I could almost see the shivers go up her spine; she stood up straight, frozen in shock, with her eyes expressing all the fear she had shown for the past two and a half months. "You should know that I am not going anywhere."

Paul, also known as Eddie's worst counterpart, began to softly stroke Nina's arm. I wanted to run forward and kill him right here, because his touch was anything but comforting; Nina was shaking in fear every time Paul dragged his fingers down her arm, imprisoning her more than before.

I wanted to get rid of him. Nina had suffered too much on his hand. She deserved a touch that would make her purr in delight instead of shake with fear, a grip on the arm that would make her sigh in relief instead of stand on edge like a dog that had just glimpsed a cat.

"Get away from her," I growled, my teeth clenched so they wouldn't start to chatter from both the fear and the cold.

"Aww," Paul grinned evilly, tightening his grip on Nina's arm so she whimpered in pain. "Is Fabian trying to stand up for his girlfriend? How cute...but it won't be cute in a few minutes, because everything around here will be under my rule!"

"What, are you going to try to conquer the world?" Patricia spoke, from far behind us. I could tell she was trying to be brave, but the shake in her voice was evident from even where I was standing. All of us, even Nina, was very, very afraid.

We were all crowded around one area near the main house in Shadowland while no one said a word other than two people, but the howling of the wind was loud enough to make us feel like we were within hundreds of people.

"Oh, no," Paul laughed, in response to Patricia's comment. "But when this ends, none of us will be suffering anymore! You'll see! _You'll all see_."

I watched him with confusion as he turned around slightly, so that Nina was facing him. "Right, little girl?" He asked her, and she nodded impassively. I wanted her to show emotion; I wanted to see the spark of curiosity in her eyes whenever we discovered a new clue or when someone acted out of character. I wanted to know her again.

"Yes...you won't suffer anymore. How cute," He grinned, an evil, wretched version of Eddie's smirk.

Eddie's smirk wasn't evil like Paul's. It was ignorant and arrogant and annoying, but it wasn't evil. He used it to make people think he was better than them, that he was 'popular' and came off as a badboy. Paul's, however, was purely evil. It had evil intentions.

Afterwards, everything happened so quickly that even when I thought back on it, I couldn't remember it properly. The last thing I remembered was Paul smirking and saying that Nina wouldn't be suffering anymore, which I took the complete wrong way,

It was hard to even put it in order in my mind, but there were some things that stuck up above the others.

Paul had tightened his grip on Nina's arm until she was whimpering like a puppy that had just been stepped on. "EDISON!" Paul boomed, and all heads turned to Eddie behind us.

"Do you have it?" Paul wondered, his eyebrows arched.

"Yes," Eddie responded, almost mutely.

"Give it to me," Paul told him fiercely, sticking his hand out immediately, keeping the other gripped around Nina's arm.

Everyone around Eddie, including me, watched as he reached into his pocket and took out a bottle of orange liquid. I didn't recognize it at first — maybe some kind of juice? — but then I realized that I hadn't payed attention to whether or not the elixir was in my bag before Nina called us all in for this final dream.

Eddie had the elixir, not me.

"EDDIE!" I screamed, but he didn't turn around. I had begun to walk towards him, but both Jerome and Alfie held me back from running and slapping him. "DON'T GIVE IT TO HIM! _EDDIE_! NO!" I thrashed and fought against the two boys, but still they held me back and told me to stop from fighting them.

Eddie didn't even glance back, just stared ahead, indifferent to all that was happening around him. It was like he didn't care what happened, didn't care that I was screaming my lungs out for him to stop and didn't care that Nina was still whimpering and crying and that Amber was in the back, crying her eyes out, loud enough for anyone to hear and no one was comforting her.

"Finally," Paul breathed, a sigh of relief. "Thank God, the time has finally come. Thank you, Edison."

"EDDIE!" I screamed again, being pulled back by Jerome and Alfie, but it didn't stop my cries and pleads. "STOP IT! GET IT BACK! YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!"

"But Nina does," Paul turned from Eddie to me suddenly, the evil grin appearing on his face once more. "She wants this, and since she wants it, Eddie will give it to her."

"NINA!" I screamed again, pulling Alfie's hand off of my mouth. He couldn't silence me that easily. "DON'T DRINK IT! _YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS_!" I called out to her, any attempt to get her to think straight and let us devise a plan, but she just released a sob and stared at the ground.

"Oh, no, Nina won't be drinking this elixir," Paul explained, holding Nina with his right hand and the elixir in his left. "In fact, I won't even be drinking this."

The crowd around me was completely silent; Alfie and Jerome had even stopped from pulling me back, but I was too numb and confused to run to Nina. I breathed in heavy breaths, my heart at the pit of my chest. This was actually happening; it wasn't a nightmare that I could wake up from.

This was actually happening; with the elixir in hand, I finally understood what would happen to her. All of this time uncovering the mystery, all those Dream Log entries, all the Sibuna meetings discussing what one of us learned, all the anticipation and sleepless nights...

They were all for nothing.

"Victor!" Paul called cheerily, off somewhere where I couldn't see. "Victor, would you come here, please?"

I was too numb to feel anything at this point, but Victor Rodenmaar Jr had walked into the crowd of eleven people. I didn't know if I was shocked to see him or completely unruffled. I didn't know if he was going to help us or work against us. I didn't know anything anymore.

This was all for nothing, and right now, on Christmas Eve 2011, I was witnessing the end of a close friend. I was witnessing the end of something I had been working for for the past two and a half months. I didn't know anything anymore.

"See, children," Paul turned to us all, "He will be drinking the elixir today."

"Victor?!" A few people called; I could hear Jerome and Joy's voice, above others. I even saw Amber gasp in recognition and confusion.

But to me, it made perfect sense. All of the puzzle pieces were finally falling into place right now.

The only way out of Shadowland was to break the curse, but to break the curse, you had to kill Paul.

Paul was Eddie's worst counterpart, the other part of him that you didn't want to tangle with.

Paul was technically not a real person, so you couldn't kill him. You had to banish him. And since Eddie was Nina's protector, Paul's main mission was to _destroy _Nina.

The only way to truly destroy Nina was to kill her, and that's what the elixir was for.

Victor was going to drink said elixir, so he'd finally be granted immortal life.

"Ah, yes," Victor breathed, surveying the bottle of orange liquid by turning it over and over in his hands. "Finally. The elixir of life...I can finally be truly immortal!"

"STOP!" Screamed Joy from behind me, somehow finding the courage to speak. "Victor, you know the consequences. And you've already tried this once before so just stop!"

"_Your opinion is invalid, you puny girl_!" He boomed, his brown eyes piercing our gaze. He had a crazed, manic look to them, and that's how I knew it was all coming to an end.

He began to untwist the lid while my heart started to run a mile. THUMP. His fingers moved feverishly. THUMP. The cork came off with a pop. THUMP. He stared at the open bottle of elixir, the bottle of fate, the only thing that would supply immortal life.

But it was also the one thing that would end up being Nina's downfall.

"Yes...yes!" Victor yelled with delight, his voice cracked with utter excitement. He had waited over 8 decades for this day. "Finally! I can rid myself of you miscreants after your silly little attempts to stop me!"

Jerome and Alfie had dropped my arms, but I felt too numb to run. I assumed they felt the same exact way, knowing very well what was about to happen, but feeling completely helpless to stop it. Paul was smiling maniacally, because his destiny was about to be completed. He; was about to destroy the Chosen One.

"Nina," I breathed, willing myself not to cry. It wasn't the time to get emotional. "Please. Don't do this. I...I love you."

Those words caught Nina's attention and she moved her eyes from the ground to my face, but she didn't say a word.

Paul and Victor were moving feverishly, but time seemed to slow down when she met my eyes. I held her gaze for only a few seconds, but it felt like so many more.

If this was the last time I'd ever see her, I wanted to drink her in and save her for later; her knotted dirty-blonde hair, the green eyes that were pools of sadness and deep regret instead of happiness and curiosity, as well as all the little things like the way she held her left arm with her right hand and the mole on her cheek and her fingernails, bitten to stubs.

I wanted to remember her. I wanted to remember her features. I wanted to remember her voice, so persuasive and optimistic. I wanted to remember her.

She inhaled. Exhaled. And took a step forward.

Paul gripped her arm, digging his fingers into her skin. She cried out in pain before burying that beneath the surface, but I could feel my heart fall with every inch that Paul's nails were breaking her skin. "Don't," she warned him, "I'm not going to do anything. Stop."

And Paul, reluctantly and with suspicion, slowly dragged his hand off of Nina's arm.

The only sound were the heartbeats of ten teenagers and Nina's footsteps as she slowly, slowly, inched closer to me. Her clothes were matted with dirt and soot and there were bleeding scrapes on her face, but her lips were pursed and her eyes were set like she knew she wanted to do this one last thing before she...

"Fabian," she sighed, like the word felt nice on her lips. She was barely a foot away now. "I'm sorry."

I didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything.

She lightly brushed away some of the hair falling in front of my eyes. She had an expression I couldn't read; it was either sad or happy, somewhere in between, or something completely different. She exhaled one final breath before tilting my head down and kissing my forehead. Her lips were cold and chapped, but they felt nice on my head. I sighed. I had her.

Nina didn't smile, but she gazed at me for one final time. My eyes never left hers. It was one of the last times I saw her, alive, breathing, like she was before she was kidnapped.

Victor lifted the elixir to his lips.

And he drank it.

And the rest I couldn't remember.

Or at least, I didn't want to remember.

Because every time I closed my eyes I could still see the absolute pain on Nina's face as the life was sucked out of her and given to Victor instead.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could still hear the wretched screams coming from her mouth as she died, and the pleads from mine as I prayed to something, anything, that maybe she could live if we just found another way she could still live she could still live _she could still live SHE COULD STILL LIVE IF WE_—

Every time I closed my eyes, I could picture her still body, lying in my arms, as I shook her and screamed for her to stay with me, but she was already gone and she couldn't stay with me. Every time I closed my eyes I could picture Jerome and Alfie trying to tear me away from her dead body, screaming for me to leave her alone because there was nothing I could do. Every time I closed my eyes I could see her eyes closing for the final time with as her screams died down and she found peace and the sobs escaped through my mouth and I collapsed on the ground because it was over.

It was over.


	55. Until the Last of Days

**...**

***deep breath***

**...Hi.**

**Has it been three months since I last updated? Yes.**

**Could I have updated back in June, but I didn't because I'm a lazy piece of poo? Yes.**

**You all have every right to be bitter about not getting an update (if anyone is bitter at all), because the main reason behind the lack of updates is purely laziness. I know that it's a crap excuse, but it's the truth. Also, as some of you may know, this year has been very harsh on me, and I'm still trying to work it all out and lie loose ends together. Unfortunately, when my life took a turn for the worst, so did my writing.**

**This chapter was originally supposed to be much longer, but I cut out the parts that I couldn't (or had trouble) writing. This chapter may seem a little shorter than the others, but the upcoming chapter (56) is already in progress and I promise — I SWEAR — I'll try to get it up on time.**

**Also, the 3 year anniversary is coming up for this story. I want to do something special (I was originally planning on publishing the acknowledgements on the 18th but I don't think it'll happen), so hey, maybe us together will plan it out? **

**I haven't proofread this and I'm terrible at angst but hopefully you'll be like D: at some point in this chapter bc that's what I was aiming for, haha.**

**Happy reading!  
>-Lia<strong>

* * *

><p>I didn't bother to check the time on the clock but it was dark outside, so I guessed it was the middle of the morning.<p>

Mick tossed and turned every few minutes. He was either too restless to fall asleep or was trying to do so.

Eddie's eyes were closed and his chest moved up and down consistently. He was obviously asleep.

I didn't even bother to close my eyes. I knew that if I did I'd only see a screaming teenager as she died, her life pulled away from her so unfairly, then it ending.

I didn't know if Mick could hear it or not, but there was a faint wail coming from somewhere upstairs. I wasn't worried. I knew who it was. But the cries continued.

I wasn't crying. I didn't know why. Maybe I was too numb to cry. Maybe I wasn't really that upset, like Amber was upstairs, sobbing until the tears ran out.

It was over. And if I closed my eyes, I might've fallen asleep. And if I fell asleep, I'd wake up, and Nina would still be gone.

* * *

><p>—<p>

* * *

><p>Her name was echoing through my mind, and I couldn't — wouldn't — let it escape. I didn't know when the last time I'd hear it would be, so I wanted to keep it for as long as I could, wanted to remember the sound the four letters made, especially when they were on my lips, when I was addressing her with it.<p>

It was an old name. Most popularly used in the 1880's, she had told me. It meant "girl" in one language, and "grace" in another (She was most definitely a girl, but she was not graceful). It begin with the fourteenth letter of the alphabet and ended with the first. It was her name.

_Nina_ was the Chosen One and she died much earlier than she was supposed to.

There was an unimaginable amount of pain and I couldn't put it into words.

"Get away from me!"

I turned at the sudden interruption, loose strands of dark hair falling in front of my eyes. I didn't even bother pushing them away, although I could see Patricia and Eddie standing a few meters away from each other in the common room.

"Patricia, you can't just shove me out like that," Eddie was saying. "I have things to say to you."

"And what if I don't want to hear them?" Patricia backfired, but with the hair in my face, I couldn't see her expression. "You don't even deserve to be listened to, much less looked at! Why should I even be making an effort with you at all? You're just...you're just rude, and uncouth, and presumptuous, and you're a killer above all!

"Patricia, stop screaming!" Eddie's voice was hushed, and I realized that maybe I should quickly slither out of the kitchen before I was seen by either one of them, so I silently opened the laundry room's door and leaned my head against the door frame from inside. I could still hear them.

"Don't touch me! If you touch me, I will scream. I will."

"Okay. I won't touch you. Just please...please listen to me. I have things I want to say, want to get off my chest, but no one will fucking listen to me in this house! I need to tell someone."

"What, that you killed Nina?"

Hearing her say it so casually like that...it almost tore my heart in half.

"See, that's what no one understands!" Eddie bellowed. I couldn't imagine the anger on his face. "I didn't kill her!"

"_I saw you give Paul the elixir_!" Patricia screamed, loud enough for the entire house to hear. "Don't deny it, you fucking scumbag! You killed Nina! You killed her! You! _YOU_!"

"I DIDN'T KILL HER!"

"I SAW YOU KILL HER!"

"I DIDN'T FUCKIN—"

Then suddenly, the screaming between the two of them suddenly came to a halt. I was tempted to peek out of the laundry room door, possibly see where they went or what happened, but their conversation continued almost as soon as it had stopped.

"You have to _listen_ to me, Patricia. No one in this house will listen to a word I have to say."

"And why do you think that is?"

"I swear to Christ, if another person says that I killed her—"

"Eddie, just admit it," Patricia's voice was surprisingly calm. "You killed her. You gave Paul the elixir that Victor drank. He's granted immortal life now. He'll live forever and...Nina won't."

"So what?"

"_So what_?!" Patricia's voice suddenly rose in anger, but another few seconds of silence passed, and the calmness returned. "I just...I don't think I'll be able to look at Victor the same way ever again. He stole a life. He stole a life that you gave to him."

"Jesus, Patricia, when will you stop with the accusations?"

"I'll stop with the accusations when you admit that _you killed Nina_!"

I felt my stomach tie up in knots. How long it had been, I didn't know, but it still hurt. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Nina slowly dying on the pavement, I could hear the heart-wrenching screams as the life was sucked out of her and given to Victor instead, could remember the exact moment I heard the screams stop, her eyes close, her body slump...

I was holding her the exact moment she died.

And the person who was responsible for that was standing a few feet away from the door.

"How can I admit something that isn't true?" Eddie continued to protest a very true statement.

"Eddie." Patricia's voice was somehow calmer than before, but I could sense anger hiding deep underneath, anger she didn't want to let bubble to the surface. "We were all there. We all saw, with our own eyes, you give Paul the elixir when he asked you to give him it. You betrayed us. You killed Nina."

Silence.

"...and the sooner you admit that, the better."

I could feel bitterness boiling inside of me. The moment I started to trust Eddie with our secrets and let him in, he betrayed us, just like Patricia said. He killed my girlfriend. He killed my best friend. He killed her, and she wasn't ever coming back to us, and that wasn't something easily forgivable.

I could hear a long, loud sigh. "Patricia..." Eddie began, his voice cracked, almost like he was...crying.

He continued, "I know what I did. I'm not an idiot. I'm fully aware of it. But I..." he heaved a deep sigh. "I _had_ to.

"Amber was screaming at me this morning, telling me to get out, that I killed Nina. And yeah. I did kill Nina. I killed her."

Hearing those words, spoken by Eddie himself, made me feel like a knife was being stabbed through my chest.

"I stole the elixir from Fabian's back pocket without him even knowing. It was a plan, Patricia. It was all a plan...I knew this was going to happen weeks ago. I knew what I had to do, even if it was wrong. Even if I'd regret it for the rest of my life."

"It was a plan?" Patricia asked.

"Yeah," Eddie breathed quietly. I had trouble hearing him. "Nina figured out...she realized that because Paul's main goal was to destroy her, the only way to get rid of him was to _permanently_ destroy her. She _had_ to die. It was the _only_ way to end this."

I tried not to slide against the side of the door and hide my head in my legs and stay there for the rest of the night. Nina knew she was going to die...she knew...

Her last words to me were "I'm sorry".

I didn't know what she was sorry for.

Putting us through the torture that was the dreams and subjecting us to Paul's games? Not letting me stay after school with her the day Mr. Winkler asked her to stay behind to discuss her grades? Sorry that...that she was about to die before any of us could save her?

If I didn't know what she was sorry for, how could I ever forgive her?

Despite the utter heartache I was feeling, Patricia and Eddie's conversation continued outside of the door. "No, Eddie. No, you're wrong."

"This is what I mean about no one listening to me!" Eddie's voice, still broken from the tears he shed, was completely desperate for the need to be heard. I could almost — not exactly — sympathize with him. No matter what he did or said, however, he would always be the person who killed Nina. "I just spoke to you about how it was a plan. Nina and I had been talking about it for weeks _beforehand_! She agreed to this. It was her choice. I wouldn't have killed her if she didn't say that it was okay."

"No," Patricia whispered.

"Yes!" Eddie protested. "Yes, yes, yes, you don't understand—"

"Oh, I understand completely. You're saying that you killed Nina because she told you that you could. You're saying it was her choice. It wasn't her choice."

There was a pause.

"It was _yours_. Nina may have agreed to the 'plan' that you could kill her, but in the end, Eddie, it was your choice. _You_ made the decision to take the elixir from Fabian's pocket when you could have left it there. You made the decision to give Paul the elixir you stole, when you could have just as easily said 'No, I don't want to kill my friend, so I won't give you the elixir that will allow you to do so'. It was your choice. No one else's. _Yours_.

"...and you made the wrong choice."

"I don't see how it was wrong."

Another few seconds meant moments of silence, moments that I could only imagine what was going on behind the door. I couldn't actually imagine anything; it was like my mind was too numb to even think a single thought, to imagine myself feeling any emotion.

Then, suddenly, Patricia spoke again. "You don't see how it was wrong."

Her voice was anything but calm when she repeated Eddie's statement.

"Yeah," Eddie said carefully, like he was watching his words. "Like I said, it was all planned out."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE GODDAMN PLAN!"

"Stop screaming!"

"NO! NO, I will not stop screaming," Patricia pushed her limits, though her most recent words weren't as loud as her previous. "I will NOT stop screaming. How can you be so motherfucking stupid?! It just blows my mind. I can't imagine being that stupid to know you killed her, as you said, but to still think it wasn't wrong. IT WAS WRONG! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! IT WAS WRONG ON SO MANY GODDAMN LEVELS!"

I stood in silence, my ear pressed against the door, listening to Patricia's blow-out. "Oh my god. Oh my god. I just...I just can't handle this. I can't listen to you anymore. I can't even stand near you. I feel like I'm going to throw up every time I look at you."

"Why, am I really that repulsive?"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING UGLY OH MY FUCK—" She intook a deep breath. "Every time I have looked at you so far in this conversation, all I see is a murderer. Not the boy who I thought I was warming up to in the past. I see a deep, cold-blooded murderer, that made the _selfish_ choice to kill his own friend...if she was ever your friend in the first place, that is."

"How dare you suggest that Nina wasn't my friend—"

"Was she?" Patricia's voice was suddenly condescending. "Would a rational person kill their own friend?"

"...Maybe I'm not rational."

Patricia laughed, almost no humor strung into it. "Yeah, I got that much. I also got that either...either Nina wasn't your friend at all or you're just so bone-dead stupid to even realize that what you did was wrong. Because no matter how you word this, buddy, you are _always_ going to be a murderer. Nina didn't deserve to die."

"I know she didn't."

"Then why did you kill her?"

"Because I had to," Eddie repeated, desperation reappearing into his tone. "I had to. It was the only way to get Paul off of our backs for good. We don't have to deal with him anymore, Yacker. He's gone."

At the use of the semi-sweet pet name, Patricia's voice seemed to soften. "...To be honest with you, I'd much rather deal with Paul teasing and tormenting us than knowing she was dead. I'd _much_ rather that than anything else."

"Why?"

"Because now I can never ask her why she never sent me a dream."

The moment I heard the words come out of Patricia's mouth, I, for once, almost understood her.

I couldn't imagine the pain and betrayal she must have felt, knowing that of everyone in Anubis House — even one person that Nina didn't even know personally — Patricia was the only one to not receive a dream. She was kept out of the loop, so when everyone else was talking about how vague Nina seemed last night in their dream, Patricia could only imagine what that would feel it.

"I'd rather deal with Paul coming and threatening us than knowing I can never ask Nina _why_ she never sent me a dream. What did she mean by it? Was she trying to teach me a lesson or something?"

"Patricia," Eddie breathed, his voice soft, "I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it—"

"You don't know that," Patricia whispered. This was the calmest I had ever heard her.

"Well, I know Nina," Eddie returned, in a respectful manner. "And I know that—"

"Eddie." Patricia interrupted him, her voice stern but peaceful. "I'm not saying that you weren't friends with Nina or that you didn't know her, but you only knew her for two months before you killed her. I knew for an entire school year and the months after that, however many there were. We may not have been best friends, but I'm fairly confident that I know her just a little bit better than you do.

"You're not Nina. You can't read her mind or get into her head. She's very secretive, and she always has been. There are probably stories of what Paul told her or did to her in Shadowland that she never told you, and now she _never_ can."

Her statement made me think of my relationship with Nina; after she disappeared, the only times I was able to see her was after I fell asleep, in a dream deep inside my subconscious. She only told me so much in the limited time we had, but I always thought she shared the stories and tales of her time there with me.

I knew Nina the same amount of time that Patricia had, but I was always certain that I knew her.

Nina wasn't exactly predictable — she could be quite impulsive at times, in fact — but I knew her well enough to know the tone of voice she was going to use to respond to something or the way she was going to wear her hair (always down, her bangs clipped back) or her emotions on a certain subject.

Now I thought of all the stories I hadn't heard, all the secrets she might have kept from me for one reason or another, all the lies she told.

Did I ever really know her at all? Nina Anne Martin, the 16-year-old girl from Long Island, New York...curious, friendly, enthusiastic...the girl that died yesterday. Was it all just a lie she had created? Was I going to wake up in the middle of the night, haunted by the memories I had of her?

"If she was here...I could have asked her _why_ she didn't send me a dream. Was it something I did? We didn't get along when she first arrived to Anubis House, but I was foolish and childish and I apologized for that. If she was here, I could have asked her _why_. I could have gotten an answer for something that had been eating at me for almost two months. And now thanks to you, I can never, ever get my answer."

"Patricia, I'm sorry, but it had to happen—"

"NO!" Patricia boomed, a tone of voice coming to light that I hadn't heard. "NO! It didn't have to happen. We could have found another way. I _know_ we could've. We're freaking Sibuna!"

No, there was no Sibuna without Nina. I couldn't go to Sibuna meetings anymore, knowing Nina was gone and dead, and not just missing. There was no Sibuna without Nina.

"We found the broken Cup of Ankh pieces that had been missing for decades! Sibuna could have found another way. It didn't have to happen. You made the selfish choice, and you killed her to get out of a bad situation you were in, and you found the easy way out. That's not how Sibuna does it. We stick by each other, no matter what happens. No matter how hopeless the situation is, we _never_ give up on each other.

"Nina was my _friend_!" Patricia exclaimed suddenly, the tears leaking into her voice. "She was my _friend_ and now she's gone! I can't ever see her again! I can't ever apologize for the way I acted when she first came...she's gone..."

For a while, the only sound I heard from the other side of the door was Patricia's soft sniffles, caused by the loss of a friend.

It was strange, hearing Patricia "I'm-Never-Wrong" Williamson cry in front of Eddie, the person who murdered the girl whom Patricia was crying over. Patricia almost never showed emotion; the only time I'd seen her truly vulnerable was last year, when she just couldn't figure out where Joy went and no one seemed to care anymore. If you judged that Patricia, the one who poured a pitcher of water over Nina's clothes to the Patricia now, who was crying into her hands because her friend was dead, you probably wouldn't even know it was the same person.

"Patricia, I'm sorry," Eddie apologized quietly.

"Don't say you're sorry," Patricia responded, her voice weak and wet with tears.

"Patricia—"

"No. Just don't. An apology doesn't even cut it in this case." She inhaled a deep breath then moaned as if she was stretching. "Whatever. It doesn't matter."

"It matters because for the last few minutes—"

"It doesn't matter," Patricia insisted firmly. "She's dead. I can't ever see her again. Whatever, right?"

I heard footsteps, but no voices. Either Patricia and Eddie weren't talking, or she was walking away. With both choices in hand, I couldn't actually pinpoint which one I wished for her to do more, pain me with her silence or her screams.

"Patricia," Eddie breathed, his voice exasperated and tired, "do you understand that I did what I had to do?"

"Yeah, I understand."

Then, just when I thought Patricia had walked away, I heard her tell Eddie in a voice so silent I struggled to hear, "All I ever wanted was an answer, Eddie. I almost got it. But just...just as it was within reach, you had to come and take that away from me. And I don't know if I can ever forgive you."

* * *

><p>—<p>

* * *

><p>"Fabian."<p>

I froze in my spot. Although my back was to him, I could clearly tell who the voice belonged to, as it was quite distinguishable. Apparently, my plan of escaping out of the laundry room and into my bedroom quickly without being noticed failed miserably.

I didn't say anything in response. I figured that maybe if I ignored him, he might go away, as if I was busy with a certain task at hand.

But since there was nothing in the kitchen but empty counters, all I did was stand in one spot and look like an idiot.

"Fabian, look at me," Eddie's voice, more stern than before, commanded me. It was closer now, as if he was walking towards me. And it almost scared me to know that someone whom I'd thought I'd known, someone who betrayed my trust and _killed_ my best friend, was only a few steps away. Almost.

Nina might be gone, but if I had learned one thing during my time with her, was that I had to be the bravest I could be. I _had_ to be right brave now. For Nina.

"Did you hear all that?" Eddie demanded sternly. "Did you hear what I was talking about with Patricia?"

_Go away_! I wanted to scream, _Stop talking to me, stop looking at me, go rot in a hole you dirty horrible malicious person, don't ever look at me again_!

"Fabian, please," Eddie begged, his tone suddenly making a 180 to sound utterly exhausted, like he was finished trying to get answers out of people and explain his actions over and over again. How many times had he told himself, _I didn't kill Nina_, before he'd finally admitted it? A mindset like that wouldn't get him anywhere, since he would just be lying to himself over and over again. There would have to be a time when he'd have to face the truth of what he did.

All Eddie was going to do if I faced him was tell me that Patricia was wrong, that he didn't kill Nina, that I had to understand that Eddie 'did what he had to do' and wasn't convinced that he ended a _teenager's_ life, that he took it away. I didn't have time for that bullshit in my life right now.

I didn't want to turn around to him, but it didn't stop Eddie from continuing. "Fabian. Okay, if you heard that, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I was so shocked by what he had said that I actually did turn around, and what I saw was more of a shock to me than his apology. There were tears resting on his cheeks, more spilling from his eyes by the second. Eddie was crying.

I almost felt pity for him for a second there.

"You're not sorry," I said quietly, forcing myself to make eye contact with him. However, as soon as I met his eyes, he turned and hid his face away. He might have been ashamed of the fact that he was showing emotion in front of me.

"I _am_ sorry," Eddie pushed back, his voice clement and broken. "Why doesn't anyone ever believe me when I say I'm sorry? I'm sorry that I killed Nina. I am. I wish I didn't, but I did, and it's in the past now so all there's left to do is—"

"You're _not_ sorry," I repeated, my voice taking on the austere manner Eddie had before. "You can't even be sorry in this situation."

"What do you mean—"

"An apology...an apology consists of a few things. First, you, um, you have to realize what you did wrong."

"Yeah, I know what I did wrong—"

"Don't interrupt. You have to realize what you did wrong, you have to address how you hurt the people around you, and you have to give an explanation of how you'd never do it again. That's an apology. But you...you're just saying sorry because you have to. You don't mean it. You don't know how you hurt us. And you _certainly_ can't tell us how you'd never do it again because killing Nina is just unforgivable."

"So you're just going to hold a grudge against me until we graduate?"

I thought about that for a moment.

How would I feel, seeing Eddie every single day when I woke up, went to school, and ate dinner, but glowering at him instead of telling him good night? I was graduating in the spring of 2013, and it was only winter 2011 now. That was a long time to go on holding a grudge against someone...especially someone who would spent endless nights attempting to make me forgive him.

Would I ever be able to forgive Eddie for what he did?

He murdered Nina. There was no sugarcoating what he did, not in the slightest. He made the selfish choice and gave Paul the elixir, so in the end Victor would be able to live forever while Nina's life ended early, and Eddie was the cause of all that. But would I ever be able to forgive him, to let go of this grudge?

"I don't know, Eddie," I muttered honestly, running my fingers through my hair. "I don't know."

"I don't want you to."

I pursed my lips. Eddie's voice was so small and broken; it reminded me of a toddler who fell off his bike and scraped his knee, searching for his mum.

"I know you don't want me to," I said, stalling for time, "but this is...this isn't something that can blow by easily, Eddie. You didn't just break an expensive vase or something. You _killed_ Nina. She's not here right now, and she'll never be here, because you killed her. Killing someone is much worse than a broken vase."

Eddie blinked, and stared at the floor in shame. He didn't answer for quite some time, and I never spoke up, either.

"I'm sorry," Eddie apologized once again, tears leaking out of his eyes. "And I know that you said I shouldn't apologize, and I understand. I killed her. But I did what I had to do and—"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, enough with the 'what I had to do' bullshit, Eddie," I sneered, clenching my fist to stop it from shaking. "You didn't _have_ to kill her. Did you hear what Patricia said in there?"

"Oh, I heard what she said loud and clear—"

"We're _Sibuna_," I snarled maliciously. "Sticking together is what we do. We don't leave _anyone_ behind. Do you know how many nights I spent planning for the day we got Nina out? A lot, Eddie. I spent a lot of nights doing that. I was...I was so excited to get her back. To start Sibuna again. And now I can't. I won't. Because there is _no_ Sibuna without Nina. No Chosen One, no club, and certainly no Osirian to eavesdrop on our conversations.

"...We could have gotten her out," I whispered, leaning against the counter, my face aimed away from Eddie's. "I know we could've."

I saw Eddie nod solemnly from the corner of my eye and say no more, but I felt no need to fill the empty spaces.

We remained like that for a while, not saying anything. My gaze was unfocused, although I mostly stared at the salt and pepper shakers, sitting on the counter with no companions.

"You don't seem," Eddie began, clearing his throat when he realized how cracked his voice sounded. "You don't seem very upset about all this."

I quickly swiveled my head to Eddie's face and glowered at him. "How could you even think I'm not upset about this? My girlfriend is dead. Do you not think I have a heart? That I don't have emotions?"

"Well, you're not crying," Eddie said, snark leaking back into his tone. "And people usually cry when they're sad."

I pursed my lips into a straight line, my gaze softening. Eddie seemed to be returning the glower I looked at him with just a minute earlier. "I _am_ sad," I whispered, biting down on my bottom lip.

"I believe you."

"But I just...I don't know why I haven't been crying. I'm sad. I'm miserable. But I just...I haven't cried. And I don't know why."

The moment after I said that, I felt like I'd admitted something much too personal. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be talking about Nina to many people after this. though. Maybe when my future wife asked me who my first love was, I'd find the courage within myself to talk about the American girl named Nina Martin who came to Anubis House and stole my heart before Christmas only to die the next year, but as of right now, I didn't think I'd be speaking of her much.

I wasn't the only person who knew Nina, so our short affair wasn't secret in any way, but the small moments...I felt like they only belonged to me.

The way she made me feel, the small smirk she threw me every time Mr. Winkler mentioned Egypt, that time on October 6th (which was only a week and a half before she was kidnapped) when I was freaking out over a test I wasn't positive I would ace, so she planted a kiss on my forehead and told me "Even if you don't do well, I'll still love you and believe in you, and you won't be any less intelligent than you are".

The things that were directed to me, the words, the smiles, the kisses, the touches, the things that were all but a memory now...I wasn't going to share them with anyone. They were mine.

"Everyone deals with things differently, Fabian," Eddie was saying. "You're still grieving her death, and not crying doesn't change that."

"But I've known her for more than a year than you have, and just before you were—"

"Cut it, Fabian," Eddie snapped, his tension growing. "Leave me out of this."

I felt too exhausted to laugh at all, but I released an odd, short breath of air out of my mouth. "Leave you out of this. Okay. Coming from the boy who killed her."

"_I didn't fucki_—" Right then, Eddie's eyes filled with anger and hatred, something I had never seen in him before. Sure, he may be a pain in the ass and a useless troublemaker, but he always had this soft look in his eyes that made me believe he'd never hurt a fly. This was the first time I had seen him truly angry. "Yeah. Whatever. You're not crying. Isn't that brilliant? What do you want me to do about it?"

"Nothing, I guess," I breathed, glancing to the right of his body so I didn't have to look him in the eye. "You can't do anything."

"That's right."

A silence stood between us just then, and for once, I didn't know what to say. I was dumbfounded by how stupid and ignorant Eddie was being, confused at why I wasn't being emotional about anything at all, and most of all, exhausted. I felt like I wanted to sleep for ten years and not wake up.

Instead of letting this silence go on for any longer, I walked out of the kitchen without even a parting goodbye. Eddie didn't deserve one, to be truthful.

I ran to my room before he could catch up to me and locked the door. Mick was out somewhere, doing something, so I was alone. From now on, in Anubis House, I'd be alone. I'd be surrounded by eight, maybe nine other people, but I'd always be alone. Nothing could ever fill that gap.

I didn't know what I wanted to do Eddie. I wanted to wring his neck so badly that the want was torturing me, but I also wanted to sit down and talk to him.

From now on, I wasn't going to give Eddie a welcoming smile or a glance his way or so much as the time of day. We'd be roommates, yes, but that's all we'd ever be. I didn't know if I could even be acquaintances with someone who tried time and time again to deny the awful deed he committed, the event that would be burned in the back of my memory forever, and try to play it off as it was some kind of joke. I was suffering. We were all suffering. And Eddie didn't seem to understand.

I wondered what Amber was doing, upstairs. Packing? Sitting with Alfie? Crying? I'd seen Amber cry before, and Alfie wasn't very experienced in the world of crying women, so if she was crying up there I couldn't imagine how he was reacting. At least Amber was getting her emotions out instead of crying about them, like me.

I heard a crash and a bang upstairs.

"Ouch!" Someone laughed, along with another voice. "Alfie, that hurt! You're such an idiot!"

"But you love me anyway."

Amber wasn't crying.

So, to make up for her absent tears, I shed some of my own.

And I just sat there, for hours upon hours upon hours, sitting against the wall with my head in my hands muttering incoherent words, sobbing until the tears ran out.


	56. Home

**A/N: Hello, all my lovely readers. If you're reading this, that means you have read all 55 chapters of this story; all 294,000 words. You've been through thick and thin, cliffhangers, happy moments and sad moments, all that lead up to this.**

**This is very sudden. Too sudden, in fact, that I spent about an hour contemplating whether this was the right choice or not.**

**I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is the final chapter of Don't Be Afraid.**

**If I say any more, I might burst into tears, so I'm just going to leave it at this. There's more information at the bottom which I'd like you all to read, if you will. I hope you enjoy the last chapter of my first story. :')**

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><p><strong>[x]<strong>

* * *

><p>Her eyes opened.<p>

Her eyes weren't _supposed_ to open. She was dead. Her soul was supposed to have left her body and traveled to the afterlife, and later who knows what would've happened, but her eyes weren't supposed to open and yet they did.

_Maybe I_ am _dead_, she thought calmly. _Maybe this is my afterlife. Maybe I'm supposed to feel my heartbeat and see my chest moving up and down with my breaths. Maybe I'm _supposed_ to do all the things that would otherwise categorize me as alive, because I died._

_I died._

Still, she felt utterly and surely alive. Her heartbeat was unyielding, very much so that she could feel it pounding in her ears. She inhaled, exhaled...inhaled, exhaled, both things she wasn't supposed to do as a dead person...a dead person didn't breathe...

She also wasn't supposed to be able to sit up, or open her eyes, or form coherent thoughts. She wasn't supposed to be able to

"Ah," a familiar voice spoke, "I thought you'd awake around now, child."

She felt the immediate fear course through her veins. The voice was close...not right by her ear, but around her, somewhere that she couldn't see, and it was scaring her because for months and months the only person she saw was someone who snuck up on her and whispered torturing words into her ear, like _If you don't cooperate, I'll kill one of your friends and blame it on you_ or things like _Good girl, that's how you cooperate...do exactly what I say..._

The voice, however, was much deeper than the other one...much more knowledgeable. Quiet. Careful.

"Victor?" She breathed, not quite knowing why she was doing so. She was sitting up on something comfortable, but her head was turned to see the old housekeeper.

"Yes," Victor Rodenmaar Jr released a tiny smile. "It is me, young one. It's about time you opened your eyes...I've been sitting here for two hours."

"What's happening?" She asked a simple question, thousands upon thousands of thoughts running through her head. It took willpower to focus on only a few thoughts with so many others, but she figured her best bet was to focus on what was right in front of her. "Why am I here? Aren't I...aren't I dead?"

Victor was sitting in an old, dusty chair about five feet from her. His cane was leaning against the side of his chair, and his left elbow was leaning on his knee. "You _were_ dead," Victor corrected calmly. "You aren't now."

"I don't understand," She groaned, moving her hand to lay on her forehead. She had a scalding headache, one that was making her insides burn. "How am I...how am I alive? I shouldn't be alive. I _can't_ be alive. I'm _dead_. You can't bring a dead person back to life."

"There are certain ways," Victor protested, as quiet and as calmly as you would be on a mundane afternoon. "One thing you should learn, child, is that there is always a way out for those who are clever enough to find it. In this case...I was your way out."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her throat sore and dry, like she hadn't had something to drink in weeks.

"You were dead, yes," Victor confirmed. She felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. "But...I decided that—"

"You killed me," She remembered, her eyes widening. "You...Eddie gave you the elixir to drink, and you took it and drank it and you killed me." She looked at him with utter fear in her eyes; how else would you look at your murderer? She wanted to back up into the wall, but she remained sitting on whatever she was planted on.

"Let me finish," Victor continued. "When the others left after you died, I looked at them and there was so much guilt in me that it almost overwhelmed me. I looked at your dead body and thought...wow. What had I done? I was immortal, but I took a teenager's life in return. Someone who hadn't seen the world. Someone who hadn't even finished _high school_. I was a despicable human being, and I realized that.

"So I prayed to the gods to take my immortality and give it back to you. Or, rather...remove my immortality and return your life back to you."

She was silent. She stared at Victor with a blank expression, breathing through her mouth. Her green eyes, once so full of life, expressed no emotion now. She felt like she was empty...Victor's explanation made no sense whatsoever...it went against everything she'd ever known. If a person was dead — if they died, if their heart stopped, if their breathing halted forever — they were dead and that was that. There was no bringing them back, no matter how many times you cried yourself to sleep or asked Gran when they'd be returning.

She knew that well. She'd attended her mother and father's funerals at such a young age, only 10 years old. She was old enough to know they were dead, but not old enough to realize the weight of what had happened.

She was supposed to join them. She was supposed to be with them right now. She was supposed to be seeing them for the first time in 5 years. And this had all been taken away from her.

"So basically, I was dead, and you brought me back," She summarized blankly.

"Yes, that is exactly what happened." Victor's voice was small, nothing like she remembered it to be.

Both of them were silent for some time. She thought about what happened yesterday...Paul came into her room, saying that he had a plan to end all of this, with a plus: and old man would receive what he had been longing for for decades. She didn't understand what he meant until Victor walked in beside him and she connected the puzzle pieces.

They were going to kill her. And she was fine with that — perfectly fine, in fact — but she promised the others that she would send them a dream when she knew the answer to the curse. And now she did.

"What do I do now?" She asked in a small voice. She felt almost insignificant, standing next to him. Victor went from someone whom she'd opposed for the entire year, to giving up his immortality for her. What if Victor wanted repayment; would she be working for him for the rest of her life? Would she have escaped entrapment, only to walk into enslavement?

"Well, I suppose you return to Anubis," Victor said calmly.

She blinked. "Return to Anubis?"

"Yes," his nonchalant expression morphed into confusion. "I would think you'd want to be with your friends again. Though they're all heading home for winter break now...I think if you left right now, you might be able to spend a few hours with them until they leave. Where you go for winter break is up to you."

"Return to Anubis?" She repeated, unable to process that sentence.

Instead of blowing up with anger, Victor furrowed his eyebrows and remained silent. She assumed he was waiting for her to continue, so continue she did. "But I...I wouldn't be welcome there."

"Why wouldn't you be welcome there, child?"

"They all think I'm dead," she stated simply.

Victor laughed weakly. "Yes, I assume it will all be a shock for them when they see you again."

"They can't see me again," She opposed. She was most likely being too stubborn to cooperate with. "Even if I tell them I'm alive, they wouldn't...they wouldn't let me in again. They'd exclude me."

"That could very well be the truth," Victor reasoned, smiling slightly. "But you never know until you actually try."

She glanced to her right, where the wooden door lay still. She could walk fifteen steps forward, open it, walk outside into the world and never have to come back here ever again. Victor had released her; he had set her free. After two and a half months of thinking it would be her friends in Anubis House who would save her, since she knew she couldn't save herself, it ended up being her grouchy caretaker.

"Should I do it?" She whispered, in the utter silence between the two of them.

"I can't tell you what to do," Victor responded softly.

"I don't know if I want to," She admitted solemnly, scratching the back of her head in shame.

Victor grunted, then pushed himself off of the chair he was sitting on. He grabbed his cane that was leaning against his seat to keep his balance. "Well, child, I know this is a shock for you. If I died and suddenly returned to life, I'd be as confused as you are, if not more. I know this must be a hard decision for you...returning to your friends or not. I know how hard it must be to leave..._here_."

She blinked as Victor gestured around the room; it was the living room, cold and abandoned compared to Anubis's. "You've considered this place your home for the past two months. You most likely feel that if you leave it...you'll have no place to go back to."

"Yeah," she breathed, refusing to look at him.

"Well, I cannot truly force you to do this," Victor began, "but I encourage you to go back home. Your friends are waiting for you."

"But what if they—"

"Life cannot be measured by 'ifs'," Victor continued, his voice firm. "You must do what you want to do. I wanted to return my immortality and give your life back to you, and so I did. I didn't say 'if I do this...' I wanted to do it and I did exactly that. If you want to return to the House of Anubis, do that. If you don't wish to, well..."

"I want to," she returned immediately.

"Then go back," he stated simply.

She inhaled, exhaled, and repeated. _If you want to return to Anubis House, do that_. Oh, did she want to return to Anubis House. She'd spent the last 68 days _dreaming_ of being there again with everyone, laughing at the supper table on weekends when Jerome and Alfie would tell stories of pranks they'd pulled over the course of the week and when they'd single out Patricia or when Alfie tried to be romantic with Amber or when Fabian and she exchanged loving glances across the table. She missed everything about that house.

She could go back. She could go back right now.

There was no 'ifs'. She wanted to go back. She _could_ go back. After 68 days, it was finally an option; she wouldn't kill herself by walking out the front door, because the barrier Paul had set was nonexistent. The House wasn't that far away...it wouldn't take very long to get there.

She took her first step forward. It was wobbly, having been her literal first step since she died, but with every push of her mind and reminder that she wanted to do this, her steps steadied. They were slow and shaky, and sometimes her foot moved the wrong direction, but every second was another step closer to the door that would lead her out into the courtyard.

It took a minute or two, but when she reached the door and balanced herself against it, she turned to look at Victor Rodenmaar Jr. He was facing opposite her, looking at the other side of the room.

"Thank you," she spoke up.

He turned around. No words were needed. He smiled, bowed his head, and turned back around. She had thanked him, and all was finished.

She could go home. She could be with the members of the House again. _Home_.

With that thought, she took in another deep breath, pushed open the front door, and Nina Martin took her first steps toward home.

* * *

><p><strong>[x]<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Two weeks later<strong>  
><strong>January 8th, 2012<strong>

"Fabian, I'm scared."

I reached over and grabbed her hand, cradled it in mine. "There's no reason to be," I assured her, putting on my best smile. "Nothing's going to hurt you."

She inhaled a deep breath, then shook her head slowly."If you say so," she whispered, pursing her lips and avoiding my eyes by paying close attention to the leather couch beneath us. I always felt more assured when we held eye contact over the past two weeks, but she was making her best effort. I couldn't be angry with Nina, no matter how hard I tried.

"I know so," I continued quietly, trying to regain her attention. "Nina, we're your friends. Why would you be scared in the first place?"

Nina inhaled again, but didn't meet my eyes. I couldn't read her expression so I couldn't remotely know what she was feeling. "Because, Fabian."

"That's not an answer, you know."

"I'm scared," Nina breathed the beginning of her response, "because I haven't seen any of them in such a long time. And not just within these two weeks, since before this even began, back in October. I...I tried my hardest to keep in contact with them while I was taken, but it wasn't enough for some of them. Amber held a grudge against me. Patricia's probably still mad at me to this day!"

She had a certain look in her eyes that I couldn't see through. I wanted to help her, but I didn't know how, and it killed me to see her vulnerable like this when I was without a way to comfort her.

"I don't know what to do about any of them. I don't know what they'll think, or how they'll treat me, and that scares me most of all."

Nina's hand, small under mine, was trembling. I squeezed it to let her know that I was here for her, that I'd hold her hand throughout everything.

I took a moment to think about my words, because if I said the wrong thing or my message was taken the wrong way, there was the possibility of scaring her off. I had worked for two weeks to convince Nina that I wasn't here to hurt her, and I wasn't about to jeopardize all that now. "Nina," I began, my voice soft.

She met my eyes.

"In October, when we got the fake call that said the police found your body, Amber woke up the entire House that night. She was sobbing, telling us that she couldn't fall asleep because your empty bed was sitting right next to her. Then, two weeks ago, when you actually died, the first thing I did when I woke up the next morning was check on Amber to see how she was doing. I couldn't find her in her bedroom and I freaked out for a moment, but I found her a few moments later in Patricia's room next door, sleeping on the floor. Patricia told me that Amber came in in the middle of the night, and no one, not Patricia nor Joy nor Mara, could argue.

"Then at breakfast an hour or so later, Amber started screaming and crying at Eddie, so much so that Alfie had to take her out of the room."

Nina blinked and slumped her shoulders. When she didn't speak, I spoke for her. "I don't see any reason to be afraid of Amber, truthfully. I really think that if she saw you, she'd cry. And cry. And wouldn't stop crying. There would be so much crying."

"Yeah, but I still—"

"Do you want to deal with a crying Amber Millington? I don't."

Nina laughed quietly under her breath, which made me feel a little better. All I wanted in the world was to see her happy, which I had yet to glimpse. "Nina," I spoke, "I'll be here for you, throughout all of this. We'll all be here for you, no matter how much you're afraid of us. I guarantee you that."

"I know," Nina exhaled, closing her eyes. I wondered what was going on in that head of hers.

I squeezed her hand, tighter this time. It had been a wild two weeks between us, consisting of nightmares and unspoken secrets, but we'd found our way home somehow. I didn't know how the others would react to seeing Nina alive and breathing, but Jerome and Alfie were due to walk through that door any minute now. And when they did, Nina and I would be ready. We'd face them together, as one.

If I'd realized anything over the two weeks Nina and I had spent together alone, it was that I loved her, and it only took a death to figure that out. I didn't want to lose her to mental illness or physical illness or anything that could take her away again. I didn't deserve that, and neither did the others.

Nina and I stood, hand-in-hand, ready for anything.

* * *

><p><strong>[x]<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There was originally supposed to be 7 more chapters, but after six months of not writing a single word of this story, I couldn't get it out of my system. Unfortunately, I lost all inspiration for this story a long time ago. After thinking about it a little bit more, I decided I liked this ending; it leaves room for thought. Now you all can imagine how you think the others reacted to Nina's arrival, and what happened afterwards.**

**Of course, I had this all planned out; and perhaps one day, I might even publish it (that is, if I manage to write it). **

**The acknowledgements for this story will be published next week, on the 18th; the third anniversary of Don't Be Afraid's publication. Anyone and everyone who's ever reviewed, liked, or favorited this story will be mentioned, especially a few special people, so look out for that.**

**Don't Be Afraid has been a huge part of my life for the past 3 years, and there won't be a day that goes by that I won't think of it.**

**Well...that's it, then. That's my final closing. Thank you so so so so SOOOO much for reading this, and spending however many hours it took to read this story whole. It will never come down, that I can promise.**

**I'll see you all on the 18th for the acknowledgements xoxoxo**

**Thank you guys again, for everything. It's been great.**

**-Julianna**

**(PS - Have a sparkling day!)**


	57. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS!

The first promo for House of Anubis was sometime in December 2010. I was 11. My first impression was not a good one; I thought it looked stupid, and said to myself, "What kind of name is Anubis?" I had no intention of watching the show. I even remember my mother, at the dinner table, asking me and my brother if we were going to watch that new Nickelodeon show. I said I wasn't.

The first season premiered, but I wasn't watching it. I saw a promo for House of Drama/House of Codes sometime in January as the season went on, and I remember thinking "Oh, so a character went missing now?"

It wasn't until January 28th, 2011, that there was nothing interesting on at the moment. I was scrolling through the channels, looking for something, when I saw that House of Anubis was currently airing on Nickelodeon. I said to myself, "Well, there's nothing else on, so why not? Let's see what's happening."

In the show, Amber and Nina were walking to the warehouse to look for Patricia. I had no idea who these characters were, but I did think it was going to be like Degrassi in the sense that they had a million and one main characters. Apparently, a girl named Patricia of whom I had no idea what she looked like, had gone missing, and two girls were looking for her.

It peaked my interest.

I went straight to Nickelodeon's website and went onto the Anubis section. After finding the episodes, and trying to sort them in order by looking on Answers (dot com), I watched the premiere all the way up to the episode that had premiered (the one I watched) in one weekend.

I was too caught up in the mystery to even realize Fabian and Nina had a thing going on, haha. It wasn't until I went on the House of Anubis message boards, where everyone was talking about how cute 'Fina' was, that I actually realized their blooming romance.

The following Monday, I watched the newest episode. On Friday, the promo for the episode after House of Yesterday premiered, where Nina was telling the gang that "the only person who could help us in any way is now gone". At first, I thought she meant Fabian. I watched the promo again and gasped, then thinking she meant Victor. I only realized she was talking about Sarah when I went on the Anubis message boards again, where some fans said that Sarah died about this time in the season in Het Huis Anubis. Regretfully, I was disappointed. For some reason, I wanted Victor to die. No idea why.

I also remember: The Washroom Theory, Jerina, and the Fabicia shippers going crazy because Prom. I have a lot of fond memories of this season.

However, I didn't start planning for Don't Be Afraid until April 2011.

After season 1 ended, I tried to find anything related to House of Anubis and a possible second season. I looked at everything except Twitter (because I thought that was "stalking"). I found the House of Anubis Wikia, with a page dedicated to fanfictions. I clicked on one of the links, which led me to my very first House of Anubis fanfic, Never Planned For.

After that, I started to read fanfics of all kind. Many got a high number of reviews, and I thought to myself, "I'm going to be one of those authors". I created my first ffn account on April 3rd, 2011.

I could have published Don't Be Afraid back in May 2011, but I never had the inspiration to. I planned it all out in my head, down to the very last detail, thinking it was going to get oh-so-many reviews, follows, and favorites, that I was going to be a famous author in the Het Huis Anubis/House of Anubis fanfiction archive.

It wasn't until I was in 7th grade, in October 2011, that I actually finished the first chapter. I had abandoned my first account to make Smiley612, completely dedicated to publishing Don't Be Afraid. It took two days, but the 17th finally came; I was so excited as I pressed publish. As it turns out, though, the story ended up right underneath another story that was calling out the archive's bullshit, saying how "bad the stories were nowadays". I was afraid people wouldn't read my story because that story was right above it. After crying for a few minutes, I deleted it.

I published it right back up in the morning though, on October 18th 2011. It got 2 reviews. Both from signed in members! It was good enough for me.

Then, something happened, and I didn't update with the second chapter until February 2012. It wasn't necessarily writer's block; to be honest, I can't remember what went wrong. All I know is that I didn't update with chapter 2 until 4 months later, which I shouldn't have done.

Other people reviewed after that. Don't Be Afraid steadily got more reviews.

I reached 100 reviews on chapter 18, in summer 2012. I think it was the day after I arrived in Florida for vacation!

I reached 200 reviews on chapter 32, on April 1st, 2013. I had come home from school, only to dance around in my den. I was so excited.

I reached 300 reviews on chapter 40, on July 1st, 2013. I was even more excited than I was when I reached 200. I was over my friend's house, and I grabbed her and we jumped around the living room, singing and dancing. I laughed and sang "I have 300 reviews!"

I reached 400 reviews on chapter 47, on January 19th, 2014.

Now, I have 481 reviews, and I was kind of hoping to reach 500. I don't think it'll happen unless I receive 19 reviews for this chapter alone, but hey, who knows? Maybe all my lovely readers will pull through and do me this one last favor.

Don't Be Afraid has been a ride. If I went and explained all that happened between chapter 1 and 57, we'd be here forever. This silly story has played a humongous part of my life, as well as all the people who've read it. I could not be more thankful. You should all know that there won't be a day that goes by that I didn't think of Don't Be Afraid, or some part of it. It'll feel strange not writing this story anymore, but it was time to move on, and I'm thankful for all that's happened.

Now, let's got on the actual acknowledgements, shall we?

* * *

><p><span>Mentions<span>**:**

**izzie08**: You were my very first reviewer, and I highly doubt you're even reading this, but you made my day when I saw "reviews (1)".

**BELLA X STARFIRE7745231**: This is going to sound so pathetically lame. I think your first review was on chapter 2 or 3, and it's a miracle you stuck by Don't Be Afraid this long. You were one of the only people who reviewed almost every chapter. Between chapters 20 and 30 I had a dry spot where I wasn't receiving many reviews, and at the time I was young and desperately wanted reviews so I knew people were reading the chapter. Even though I barely received any, I could almost always count on you to review with one word: "Awesome!". I was a little iffy at first, wondering if that's all you thought, but eventually I grew thankful. I don't think I've ever truly had a conversation with you, but thank you for your reviews! They truly meant a lot to me.

**wolfienjhoanfdwar**: I don't think I ever talked to you, even though you reviewed a great number of times! You always left a thorough review and called me by my name, which made me feel appreciated. You truly did seem to enjoy the story, enough to leave long reviews on the chapters you chose to write them, and I always enjoyed reading them. Thank you so much for making me feel appreciated! We should talk sometime.

**Courageous Dreamer**: Hi, Kimberly! We haven't talked in over a year, if I remember correctly. Your first review was on chapter 23, and you said you read the whole thing up to the current chapter. It blew my mind, so I had to PM you to thank you. We were never the best of friends, but I'd like to hold a conversation with you again! Hit me up. :-*

**sinfullysarcastic**: Hiii! You're not around anymore, but I remember you were a popular author on the archive. I was jealous, lol. It wasn't until chapter 29, I believe, that you actually reviewed and said you read the entire story! I was too much of a coward to reply with a PM, but after chapter 40, I took a seven-week break. Then I posted on my profile that chapter 41 would be up soon, and you PM'd me first! I felt awesome. We held a conversation for months and months, even though there weren't many replies, as I was very lazy. You didn't review very often either, but when you did, it made me smile. I almost felt honored to have someone who was so popular on the archive, not to mention one of the most talented authors, read and review my work. Hey, if you ever read this, PM me okay? I'd love to talk to you again.

**PurpleDuck5**: I...talked to you once. I think. I also can't remember the first chapter you reviewed on, and I feel lame. And ashamed. You, as well, didn't review very often but it made my day when you did. We also talked once! (There seems to be an reoccurring theme here.) Overall, thank you for reviewing!

**Bionic Egypt**: Okay, you awesome person, you made a trailer for this story. A FREAKING TRAILER. It wasn't Oscar-worthy, no, but damn, I can't believe someone actually liked this dumb story enough to make a trailer! I think I harassed you too much about it, lol, but I was so ecstatic. For the final time, you didn't review much, but it made me happy when you did. You weren't here from the beginning, but thank you.

I still can't believe it. YOU MADE A FREAKING TRAILER!

_OTHER PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED_:  
>(There are A LOT of them, and they're not in alphabetical order; but try to find your name!)<p>

I love Andy Biersack  
>name here please<br>MysteryWriter98  
>1065482801109701<br>DeathlyHallowsschoolgirl  
>Clove15<br>MartyMurray  
>My-Darling-Clara-Oswald<br>Soaking in the Reign  
>Leeshy-Bee<br>Sibunafan4life  
><strong>Zayniallarryouisiam<strong> (Hi Kristina)  
>JessIsTheBest<br>Ishy415  
>Welcome to My Mad House<br>pond-tastic  
>Beauty And The Trxgedy<br>**PeaceTreaty1123** (Hi Tara)  
>drama4lifexoxo<br>Sandstorm1216  
>HoAFreak3<br>oseto29  
>Whisper and Friends<br>dapennylane  
>The one who understands<br>NJ7009  
>piperholly7<br>houseofanubisfan2  
>golferbabe<br>**Math Robot 13** (Hi Christina)  
>anabethooo121513<br>alloftheabove2013  
>vibrantblueeyes<br>Nornichica  
>The Throne<br>Cherryx3Cat  
>Seddielover945<br>artsoccer  
>Angel Delight 88<br>AshleyMaeLuv  
>Sibunaismylife<br>She'sMajestic-I'mNoOne  
>Descending<br>littlemisschatterbox13  
>xx-SibunaForever-xx<p>

HOAfan219  
>PaperHouses<br>Alex The Rayquaza  
>CALYPSAJACKSON<br>FNRutterHoa  
>IWantToRemainNameless<br>NeddiePeddiefan  
>A Poet's Diary<br>Violinrocker12  
>dandelion657<br>DumDum40  
>keenwriter123<br>Hugz Kissez  
>GeekyNat<br>HHer-PitchSlap-HOA  
>Destiny's Flower<br>MadelynStilisnki24  
>LiveLoveLaugh79<br>InloveyouElejah14  
>Hoa4eva<br>hisssweetkinxoxox  
>Coming To A Sharp Turn<br>LoveLikeYouMeanIt  
>CatnipGirlOnFire<br>sibuna2000  
>unknownfangirl10<br>crackingthecode89  
>Finchelette<br>BookGoddess13

Honorable mentions:

**1. LunaSibuna**: Hi, Luna! *waves* I know your real name now, but you'll always be Luna to me.

Your first review was on chapter 3, all the way back in February 2012. You said the story was amazing, and to keep updating. I was only 12 at the time (but nearing age 13), so I felt like I had to respond with a PM. We talked for a little while, discussing Don't Be Afraid (which I later felt guilty about after you disappeared off the face of the planet, lol).

You know, I still remember this. It was April 15th, 2012. We were PMing early in the morning, and you told me it was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. I said "I knew it was this year, but I didn't know it was today!" Later that day, I logged on to Facebook and one of my friends posted a status, asking if anyone had seen Titanic, as it had been re-released in theaters. I then watched the trailer and talked to my mom about seeing it in theaters, because she told me it was a really good movie. So I saw it.

And then my life was ruined forever.

Lol, I'm just kidding. We were both very young when we started PMing (both 12 years old), and now we're both 15. We sometimes try to hold a conversation over tumblr, but it never works out, and I really want it to. You were my first BAF (Best Author Friend), and you played a big role in DBA's development. I miss talking to you sometimes.

**X**

**2. duetmonsterz**/**BigBieberRhinosaur**/**likestarlight**: Amber. The loser who has the same first name as Amber Millington.

Oh, man, you only reviewed a few times, but I recognized your name from your story, Will We Ever Get a Break. I can't even remember what you said anymore! I never read WWEGAB, but I knew you liked Big Time Rush. So when I saw that Big Time Surprise was premiering on September 22nd, 2012, I knew I had to tell you.

We didn't talk for very long over PM, though. I think you stopped responding around November 2012, sometime after Red released. We messaged each other once or twice after that, about season 3 of Anubis, but it wasn't until May 2013 that we really started going again. I PM'd you and said "Are we still fangirl buddies?!"

Soon after, we moved to Kik. We talked occasionally during the summer, but there would be long periods where I wouldn't talk to you. Then I wanted to organize a FaceTime, because Paige (mentioned at the bottom) and I did it all the time. We only FaceTimed once, haha. But we never really felt the need to.

Afterwards, we iMessaged. You texted me on your thirteenth birthday saying "I'm thirteen !". But we didn't really start talking daily until January 2014.

And we're still talking now. In fact, we're talking about how our days are as I'm writing this at this very moment (October 9th 2014, 7:48 PM).

You didn't play a very big part in Don't Be Afraid, but you did play a very big part in my life, so thank you :)

**X**

**3. slcswimmer14**/**clarksonwriter17**: Ah, Paige. Paige Paige Paige. Your first (signed in) review was on chapter 19, the only review for that chapter. I PM'd you to thank you, because your review meant a lot to me, saying that "of course people still read your story, silly goose!" or something like that. We PM'd for quite a long time (from August 2012 to March 2013) until I told you we should move to Kik. That was when we first came up with Edlly!

The first Austin and Ally episode after a long hiatus premiered in May 2013. You wanted to FaceTime.

You knew I was nervous about that, but you REALLY wanted to video chat with me, so you persisted, and I'm so so so glad you did. We watched the episode together, shared opinions afterwards, and talked for about two hours in total. Then, two or three days later, you iMessaged me. That was the start of something amazing.

We texted and FaceTimed multiple times a week. Our longest video call was four hours, I believe, starting at 10 PM and ending at 2 in the morning. We stayed up to the wee hours of the night, calling each other, talking about our co-write, Bruises. The summer of 2013 was a great period, full of laughs. Then you had to go and leave me for college.

We still talk occasionally, but not as much as we did that summer, regretfully. Call me again, yeah? I miss you.

Anyway, you always let me rant about Don't Be Afraid to you. You called me evil when I told you that I was killing off Nina, then said "Oh good, I don't hate you anymore" when I told you she wasn't truly dead. You got me into Auslly in 2013, and Caskett in 2014, and I got you into Percabeth and J/R. We shipped Edlly together and cried about Forever & Always. You played a big part in Don't Be Afraid, even saying "I can't believe a 14-year-old writes better than me", ha.

We're three years apart, me currently being 15 and you being 18, but it never mattered to us. We were always such good friends.

And that's how we'll always be.

* * *

><p>So...that's it, then.<p>

This is my final goodbye.

I figured a story that's been around for 3 years deserved a chapter dedicated to acknowledgements, especially one that has 481 reviews (sooo close to 500), and an author who doesn't want to say goodbye.

I still can't believe it's been three years since I published Don't Be Afraid. It doesn't feel real. I feel like I'm sending a child off to school, a mother unwilling to let go of her baby. This was my first story,one that took me much longer to finish than it should have. Overall, however, I'm grateful for everything.

I'm grateful for you, reading this right now.

Don't Be Afraid may be over now, but I'll never, ever, delete it. I'd lose too many memories if I did that. The first 20 chapters are cringe-worthy, but bring back so many memories and thoughts. Chapter 6 is a special one to me, as everyone freaked out because "They found Nina's body" was the cliffhanger, and it was the last chapter before Titanic ruined my life (I'm just kidding, of course...not really).

Maybe one day you'll revisit this story, and relive all of YOUR memories, as you, of course, have your own to share.

I met my best friend through this story. I found my favorite movie. I found a way to watch my favorite season of my favorite show again. I found a person whom I'm literally talking to right now. I found so many things.

I also found myself, in a way.

As my final goodbye, I want to say thank you. To all the people who had Don't Be Afraid on story alert. To all the people who liked it enough to add it to their favorite stories. To all the people who reviewed. To all the people who read it silently, never reviewing, but always reading. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you again. I love you, and I'm thankful.

I had the time of my life having you guys on my side.

Long live Don't Be Afraid.


End file.
